Naver has confirmed that it decided to invest 99 billion won in a non-compliant startup investment company (Venture Capital (VC)) during the time when Han Seong-suk was serving as a candidate for Minister of SMEs and Startups, sparking controversy. The VC in which Naver invested was TBT Partners, founded by CEO Lee Ram, who is a former representative of a Naver subsidiary. It began operations with a fund in which Naver holds a 99% stake. Many individuals from Naver are involved in TBT, and it has come to light that the candidate also invested in a personal capacity, raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest.
According to the IT industry and the Financial Supervisory Service electronic disclosure system on the 10th, Naver's board of directors approved the 'contribution to domestic startup funds' on July 25, 2018, when Han Seong-suk was serving as a representative. This was a capital contribution to TBT, with Naver investing 99 billion won at that time. The members of Naver's board when the investment was decided included the candidate, former Naver Chairman Byeon Dae-gyu, Naver Tech Business CEO Choi In-hyuk, and four other members.
TBT is a small and medium enterprise startup investment company founded by CEO Lee Ram, who served as the representative of Naver's subsidiary Camp Mobile until 2016. At that time, Lee and auditor Lee Ok-sun established the company with a capital of 2 billion won. The main purpose was to invest in IT platform startups. Lee previously planned services such as Cyworld's 'Mini Homepage,' Naver Blog, and Band.
The issue is that the timing of Naver's investment decision was prior to TBT's registration as a VC. According to the venture investment company electronic disclosure system on the 10th, TBT was established on June 29, 2018, and it completed its registration as a VC a day after Naver's investment was decided on July 26, 2018.
TBT began its operations with Naver's investment. The first fund of TBT, 'TBT Global Growth No. 1 Investment Association,' was established with 99% investment from Naver. Naver contributed 99 billion won, and TBT contributed 10 billion won, creating a total fund size of 100 billion won.
It has been confirmed that the candidate invested in the TBT fund in a personal capacity while stepping down from her role at Naver to serve as the representative for European business development. According to materials submitted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to the National Assembly's Trade, Industry, and Energy Committee, the candidate invested 100 million won in the 'TBT-IVX Next Unicorn No. 2 Investment Association,' established in November 2022. Her equity stake in this fund is reported to be 2.17%.
Currently, TBT has an operational scale of 289 billion won and manages eight funds. The most recently established fund is the 'TBT-IVX Next Unicorn No. 3 Investment Association,' registered on November 28 of last year. CEO Lee Ram, along with former Naver Chief Technology Officer Kim Jeong-min, and former Naver leader Han Seo-yoon, comprise the main executives from Naver. Park Won-gi, Naver Cloud's APAC business development representative, serves as an investment advisor.
A Naver official noted that 'the resolution and payment process for the fund's investment was carried out through the normal decision-making process of the Naver board at the time, and since practical time is required to meet VC registration requirements and obtain approval, if the registration as a startup investment company had not been completed, capital payments would not have proceeded.'
He added, 'The personal investment equity is a personal investment matter during her time as the representative for European business after resigning as CEO, and it was confirmed that there were no issues such as conflicts of interest after internal review.'