Intro.
#The VC Fund Structure — an 8-Year Life, a 4-Year Investment Period
The standard structure for a Korean venture capital fund is an 8-year life, extendable by 2 years, with a 4-year investment period. New investments need to be completed within 4 years of the fund's formation date; the remaining 4 years go to follow-on investments, portfolio management, and exits. That means the same VC's appetite for new deals looks completely different depending on where its fund is in that cycle.
| Fund Stage | Time Since Formation | VC Behavior |
|---|
| Early | 0–12 months | Just getting started, cautious about deals one and two |
| Mid-life, early half | 12–30 months | The most active window for new investments |
| Mid-life, late half | 30–48 months | Deploying remaining capital fast, gets aggressive |
| End of investment period | 48–54 months | New investing nearly stops, follow-on only |
| Management and exit | 54–96 months | No new deals, focused on M&A and IPO exits |
TIP
Pitch a fund in year 4 of its life and you are likely to hear, 'We like it, but it's not a fit for where our fund is right now.' That is more likely a fund-timing issue than a problem with your company.
02
#Negotiating Leverage by Vintage — Year 1 vs. Year 4
A fund's vintage, meaning the year it was formed, shifts the balance of power at the negotiating table. A VC in year 1 or 2 of its fund has plenty of time and a wide field of companies to choose from. A VC in year 4 is racing a deployment deadline and needs every deal it can get. From a founder's perspective, the negotiating leverage runs in exactly opposite directions.
| Time Since Formation | VC's Leverage | Founder's Leverage | Characteristics |
|---|
| 1–12 months | High | Low | Wide pick of companies, pressure on price |
| 12–30 months | Balanced | Balanced | The most reasonable window for a deal |
| 30–48 months | Low | High | The VC is under deadline pressure |
| 48+ months | Almost none | — | New investment is essentially off the table |
체크
Finding a VC 30 to 48 months into their fund's life can get you better terms for the exact same company. The trade-off is that their odds of joining your follow-on round are low, so you will likely need to line up a different lead for Series A.
03
#How to Use Fundfinder — Looking Up the Official KVIC Registry
Korea Venture Investment Corp (KVIC), the state-run fund-of-funds operator, runs a public registry at fundfinder.kvic.or.kr. It lists the formation date, maturity, managing firm, and size of every venture fund and tech-investment association that has received capital from the government fund-of-funds. You can search by fund name, managing firm, or keyword, the same way you would look up something like Mashup Angels' second individual investment fund.
- Go to fundfinder.kvic.or.kr and open the fund search menu
- Search by managing firm or fund name (for example, Mashup Angels or Bon Angels)
- Check the formation date, fund life, investment period, and total committed capital
- Calculate the remaining investment period from the formation date (investment period minus months elapsed)
- If less than 12 months remain, assume the fund's appetite for new investments is low
TIP
Fundfinder only discloses funds that received capital from the government fund-of-funds. Funds raised entirely from private LPs may not show up. In that case, work backward from the fund-formation announcement on the firm's own site or in press coverage to find the formation date.
04
#Multiple Funds per Firm — Ask Which Fund They Would Invest From
Most VC firms run 2 to 5 funds at the same time. Even within one firm, there can be a separate seed fund, Series A fund, and secondary fund, each with its own stage focus, check size, and remaining runway. Asking which fund a check would come from in your first meeting quickly tells you whether you are a stage fit.
| Fund Type | Primary Stage | What to Check |
|---|
| Seed fund | Pre-Seed / Seed | ₩100M–500M checks, deployed within 4 years |
| Series A fund | Series A | ₩1.0B–3.0B checks, can commit to follow-on |
| Growth fund | Series B+ | ₩5.0B+ checks, not a match for seed |
| Secondary fund | Pre-exit | Buys existing shares, not new-issue rounds |
| Special-purpose fund | Theme-restricted | Locked to a sector like climate or healthcare |
주의
Booking a meeting based on a firm's name alone often wastes time on a stage mismatch. 'Which fund is likely to invest here' should come up naturally at the end of your first meeting.
05
#Odds of Follow-On Participation — How Much Capital a Fund Reserves
VCs typically reserve 30 to 50% of a fund's total committed capital for follow-on investments. A ₩10B fund might set aside ₩5B for follow-ons. A fund in year 4 of its life may have almost nothing left for new deals, but it can still have follow-on capital. That reserve is what determines whether the fund can put more money into your company at Series A.
- New-investment capacity = (total committed capital x new-deal ratio) minus new capital already deployed
- Follow-on capacity = (total committed capital x follow-on ratio) minus follow-on capital already deployed
- A fund in year 4 = new-deal capacity near zero, but follow-on capacity still available
- A fund in year 6 = follow-on capacity exhausted too, unlikely to join a Series A
TIP
If you want a follow-on commitment at seed, a fund in years 1 to 3 of its life is your best bet. A fund near the end of its life may still write your seed check but is likely to sit out your Series A, which means you will need to line up a new lead when that round comes.
06
#New Fund Announcements — the Strongest Signal of All
When a firm announces a new fund, the following 12 to 18 months are its most active window for new investments. The first 1 to 3 months after the announcement move a bit slower while the firm sets up its systems, but activity picks up quickly after that. A press release like the announcement of Mashup Angels' ₩7.7B second individual investment fund is one of the strongest entry signals a founder can watch for.
| Timing | VC's State | Recommended Action |
|---|
| Just before the announcement (rumor stage) | New reviews on hold | Gather information only |
| 0–3 months after announcement | Preparing deals one and two, setting up systems | Get on their radar early, line up a follow-up meeting |
| 3–12 months after announcement | Most active | Go all in on your pitch |
| 18–30 months after announcement | Still active | A second window to get in |
| 36+ months after announcement | Deployment pressure rising | Leverage improves, but follow-on commitments get limited |
체크
The moment you see a target VC announce a new fund, book your first meeting within 3 months. A company that gets in early on a new fund is more likely to become that firm's flagship portfolio company, which tends to mean more active follow-on support.
07
#Adjusting Your Pitch's Tone by Fund Vintage
The same pitch lands better when you shift what you emphasize based on a fund's vintage. An early-life fund responds to 'a company we can build into a flagship portfolio piece,' while a fund near the end of its life responds better to 'a realistic near-term exit.' Using one tone regardless of a fund's stage weakens your fit signal.
| Fund Vintage | What to Emphasize | What to Avoid |
|---|
| Years 1–2 | Long-term growth, a Series A-through-C roadmap | Emphasizing a near-term exit |
| Years 3–4 | Traction you've already built, fast capital efficiency | Leading with a long-term R&D vision alone |
| Year 5+ | A realistic exit scenario within 1 to 2 years | Long-term vision plus more R&D |
주의
This is not about faking your pitch. It is about which true facts you lead with. If you do not know a fund's remaining runway, your tone ends up mismatched with what they need to hear.
Summary.
#Self-Check — Do You Know Your Target VCs' Fund Vintages?
- Have you looked up the fund names and formation dates for your 10 target VCs on Fundfinder?
- Have you calculated the remaining investment period, in months, for each fund?
- Have you sorted them by follow-on likelihood, years 1 to 3 versus year 4 and beyond?
- Have you set up a channel to monitor new-fund announcements?
- Do you have a version of your pitch that adjusts tone by fund vintage?
- Are you ready to ask, in your first meeting, which fund they would invest from?
CTA
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