[Executive Summary]

1. Global VC Market: Record Capital Inflows Amid Extreme Polarization (Source: Crunchbase, PitchBook, et al.)

• Record-Breaking Performance: Global VC investment reached $510 billion in H1 2026, already surpassing the full-year 2025 total of $440 billion and signaling a robust cyclical recovery.
• Concentration in the Americas & Mega-Deals: Capital inflows remained heavily concentrated in the Americas ($150 billion raised in Q2 alone). The market recovery was overwhelmingly driven by top-tier mega-deals—such as xAI and Anthropic—and the broader AI sector, which accounted for 80% of total Q1 funding.
• Long-Term Outlook: Despite structural polarization favoring a select group of mega-deals, the global VC market is projected to expand at a CAGR in the 20% range through 2030, reaching $910.6 billion.

2. Domestic (South Korean) VC Market: ‘Selective Recovery’ Driven by Large-Scale Deals (Source: The VC)

• Sharp Rebound in Investment Volume: In H1 2026, domestic VC funding surged to KRW 7.8005 trillion ($5.8B)—a nearly 3.5x increase compared to H1 2025 (KRW 2.2T)—already surpassing the full-year 2025 figure of KRW 6.9T.
• Structural Illusion of ‘Fewer Deals, Higher Value’: Total deal count declined by 5.4% year-over-year to 540 deals. While statistical figures were skewed by extraordinary mega-deals—such as the KRW 2.2T Dunamu secondary share transaction and National Growth Fund deployments—excluding these outliers still yields a net investment of KRW 5.5 trillion (more than double YoY), confirming an underlying, genuine recovery.
• Contraction in Early-Stage Ecosystem & Growing Divergence: Large-scale deals (KRW 10B+) comprised 93.0% of total invested capital (up from 77.3% in H1 2025). Conversely, the share of Seed to Series A early-stage investments contracted to 68.1% (down from 83% in 2024). Capital is decisively gravitating toward proven AI and DeepTech ventures, as highlighted by Rebellions’ pre-IPO round (KRW 640B).

3. Key 2026 Investment Trends: Capital Concentration & DeepTech Expansion

• Extreme Capital Concentration: In both global and domestic markets, capital is increasingly entrenched within late-stage companies with proven growth and technical differentiation, as well as tier-1 VCs and LPs.
• Convergence of AI with Physical & Hardware Domains (AI → DeepTech/Hardware): AI investments are transcending pure-play software, expanding rapidly into AI semiconductors, Physical AI (robotics and autonomous systems), energy infrastructure (SMRs, data center power grid solutions), and DefenseTech.
• Rise of Geopolitical & Climate-Driven Sectors: Sectors anchored in tangible, structural demand are gaining significant momentum—including DefenseTech driven by geopolitical security imperatives, Energy/ClimateTech powered by surging AI power requirements, and AI-enabled Healthcare.
• Diversification of Liquidity Pathways: Domestically, participation from Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) and pension funds expanded. Globally, secondaries and strategic M&A have established themselves as primary liquidity and exit channels to offset persistent IPO headwinds.

4. Investment Implications & Strategic Imperatives

• Rigorous Technical & Commercial Validation: Move beyond chasing general AI hype; prioritize DeepTech and AI infrastructure companies with demonstrated commercial execution, proprietary technology moats, and viable unit economics.
• Active Portfolio Risk Management: Counteract market polarization by selectively sourcing high-conviction early-to-mid-stage startups, while leveraging secondary transactions and co-investment structures to optimize risk-adjusted returns.
• Capitalizing on Domestic Ecosystem Strengths: Anchor investment strategy around South Korea’s core competencies in advanced semiconductors and manufacturing infrastructure—focusing on AI chips and robotics—while strengthening strategic syndication with CVCs and global networks.
• Strategic Mid-to-Long-Term Asset Allocation: Establish long-term capital allocation strategies in sectors benefiting from secular macro tailwinds, including energy transition, defense, and climate technology.