University professors and researchers who have spent decades drilling deep into a single field are emerging as “tech gurus” in South Korea’s venture capital (VC) market, commanding premium treatment as pivotal figures on the startup front lines. As deep-tech sectors with high technical barriers—such as humanoid robotics, quantum computing, and nuclear fusion—take center stage in investment, capital competition to secure professor-turned-founders with lab-verified expertise is intensifying.
According to VC industry sources on the 4th, KAIST is regarded as the most active university for professor-led startups. Full-time faculty startups, which averaged fewer than five per year in 2019–2020, have surged to more than 100 annually over the past two to three years. In the first half of this year alone, 107 full-time professors founded companies. The combined market capitalization of companies they established surpassed 13 trillion won (approximately $9.7 billion) as of the 2nd.
A representative success story of professor entrepreneurship is Rainbow Robotics, founded in 2011 by KAIST Professor Oh Jun-ho. The company, which grew into South Korea’s first bipedal humanoid robot enterprise, had a market capitalization of 8.7008 trillion won (approximately $6.5 billion) as of the 2nd, ranking fifth on the KOSDAQ market. The commercialization of “HUBO,” a humanoid developed in the lab, is credited with firing the starting gun for the subsequent professor startup boom.
Professor Startups Prominent in Robotics and Quantum Computing
In the robotics sector, KAIST Professor Park Hae-won serves as Chief Science Officer (CSO) at Didden Robotics, a manufacturer of ship welding and inspection robots. He oversees the design and control of quadrupedal robots capable of navigating rough terrain. KAIST Professor Hwangbo Je-min serves as CEO of Lion Robotics, which has commercialized technology enabling robots to walk autonomously in response to their surroundings.
CEO Hwangbo said, “In fields like humanoid robotics, technology accumulation is critical,” adding, “The industry is being shaped around those who have conducted long-term research in academia.” Kim Jun-ha, CEO of Didden Robotics, emphasized, “Technology that connects hardware and algorithms together is difficult to replicate, allowing us to build technical barriers.”
Industry analysts note that the spread of physical AI has significantly raised the difficulty level of robotics technology. Since companies must implement not only the hardware that forms the robot’s body but also the algorithms that assess the surrounding environment and determine movement, the participation of scholars with extensive research careers in the field has become practically essential.
In quantum computing, professor-led startups are also emerging in succession. Kim Tae-hyun, a professor in Seoul National University’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering, plans to establish Trapions, South Korea’s first ion-trap quantum computer manufacturer, this year. Ion traps confine electrically charged atoms in a vacuum to serve as qubits—the information units of quantum computers. While U.S.-listed quantum computing company IonQ leads this technology, commercialization efforts are now gaining momentum in South Korea as well.
Kim Dong-gyu, CEO of Ocuti, who earned a quantum computing PhD from MIT after graduating from KAIST, has adopted an approach that uses lasers to control neutral atoms cooled to cryogenic temperatures. Given the nature of quantum computing—where the superposition state of 0 and 1 can collapse from even minor changes in the external environment and must be corrected in real time—years of experimental know-how accumulated in the lab serve as a decisive factor in business success or failure.
Government and Corporate Veterans Join the Fray
Beyond professors, tech specialists with careers at government research institutes and major corporations are also increasingly launching startups. Lee Kyung-soo, who served as the second director of the National Fusion Research Institute and head of the Science and Technology Innovation Division at the Ministry of Science and ICT, and who led the construction of South Korea’s KSTAR fusion reactor, founded Enable Fusion in 2023. It is South Korea’s first nuclear fusion startup, and he currently serves as chairman of the board.
In the AI sector, Lim Jung-hwan, CEO of Motif, who worked as a data scientist at Krafton and Samsung Electronics, is drawing attention. He founded the company on the strength of GPU computation optimization technology essential for large-scale AI operations, and made a name for himself by participating in the “South Korea Independent AI Foundation Model” competition. Although eliminated in the second round of evaluation, he proved his technical prowess by achieving the highest score on the AI performance evaluation benchmark.
VC Capital Concentrates on “People”
VCs are concentrating their capital on securing tech gurus. The calculus is that capturing a single founder simultaneously secures years of research achievements, academic networks, and the specialized talent working alongside them.
Lee Yong-kwan, CEO of Bluepoint Partners, said, “In the past, operational capabilities like marketing and execution were differentiators for companies. Now, there are many businesses—like quantum computing, small modular reactors, and humanoid robotics—where value itself cannot be created without overcoming technical hurdles.” He added, “Ultimately, the technology capable of crossing the innovation threshold and the capabilities of researchers who have accumulated it over long periods are becoming critical.”
Industry observers expect the trend of VCs seeking tech gurus to intensify further. The analysis is that as the technical difficulty of deep-tech fields continues to rise, individual researchers’ accumulated know-how and access to “S-tier” research talent are becoming key variables that determine investment outcomes.