A new report shows venture capital firms in South Korea saw their earnings hit a record high in the first eight months of 2018.<br />This is mainly thanks to the government's deregulation policies.<br />Kim Ji-yeon reports.<br /> <br /> The amount of earnings among venture capital firms in Korea rose to its highest level this year. <br />A report by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups released Wednesday shows that the combined principal investment and profit of venture capital firms recorded more than one-point-six-billion U.S. dollars during the January-to-August period... more than double the estimate recorded during the same period last year.<br />At this pace, the ministry projects the amount to reach nearly 2-point-5-billion dollars by the end of this year.<br /> The ministry attributed the rise to the government's deregulative policies in facilitating private-led growth by granting fund of funds... as well as raising 883-million dollars in funding merger and acquisition transactions.<br />The report says initial public offerings still remained as the best means for companies... particularly those engaged in bio or ICT sectors to obtain liquidity.<br /> By company, the biggest yield amounted to 92-million dollars by e-commerce platform solution provider Cafe-24... the first venture firm to be listed in Korea's secondary bourse KOSDAQ under the so-called "Tesla standards," which allows listing of promising companies that have not yet posted significant profits.<br /> The ranking was followed by local biotech companies, Olix Parmaceuticals and Bio Leaders... which are also listed on the KOSDAQ.<br />Kim Ji-yeon, Arirang News. <br />
