CRIT Ventures Research
Overview
CRIT Ventures (크릿벤처스) is a Seoul-based venture capital firm founded in August 2020. Its tagline is "The Road Not Taken": it says it backs founders who take the road no one else takes. The firm reports about KRW 340 billion in assets under management after five years, spread across eleven funds, and lists 132 portfolio companies. It also has a US arm, CRIT Ventures USA, led by Jonghyuk Lee. Some third-party directories list a Los Angeles address for the US entity, but the main office is in Seoul.
Investment Thesis
CRIT invests mainly in Seed to Series B rounds across content, platform, commerce, AI and blockchain. Its roots are in gaming and entertainment: the founding CEO and several investors came from Com2uS, and other partners came from Netmarble, Wemade, Tencent Korea and YG Entertainment. That shows in the portfolio, which is heavy on game studios, webtoon and K-pop IP, fandom platforms and Web3 games. Newer funds point toward AI and deep tech, including an AI semiconductor fund (FuriosaAI), a drone and robotics fund (UVify) and a global scale-up fund (Daangn).
Stage Focus
Seed through Series B. The portfolio shows many early bets in Korean game and content studios, and later positions in companies such as Daangn, FuriosaAI, Animoca Brands, Pudgy Penguins and Catchtable (WAD). The site does not state stage per company.
Check Size
Not stated on the site. A press report cited by Dealroom describes a USD 1 million (about KRW 1.5 billion) investment in Yuzuco, which suggests seed checks in the low single-digit millions of dollars. Treat check size as unknown.
Lead Tendency
Not stated. Unknown.
Funds and Recent Activity
The fund page lists eleven funds, several of them government-backed or policy funds in Korea:
- IBK-CRIT ABT Fund, KRW 6.0 billion, from August 2026, tied to the A Button project
- NH-CRIT AI Semiconductor Fund, KRW 2.05 billion, from July 2026, tied to FuriosaAI
- CRIT UFO Venture Fund, KRW 42.6 billion, from April 2026, tied to UVify
- IBK-CRIT Global Content Fund, KRW 37.85 billion, from October 2025
- CRIT Global Scale-up Fund, KRW 4.35 billion, from May 2025, tied to Daangn
- Nova Spark Fund, about USD 10 million, from August 2023, gaming, AI, blockchain and content
- KNET-CRIT Contents Fund, KRW 101.5 billion, from September 2022
- CRIT Ventures C Fund, about USD 16 million, from September 2022, AI, XR/VR, blockchain and Web3
- YoungFRONT 1 CRIT Metaverse Fund, KRW 30.0 billion, from May 2022
- KIPxCRIT Interactive Contents Fund, KRW 80.0 billion, from February 2021
- Smart CRIT Fund No.1, KRW 12.5 billion, from December 2020, ICT and early stage
New funds opened in 2025 and 2026, so the firm is actively deploying.
Portfolio Highlights
Notable names include Daangn (hyperlocal marketplace), FuriosaAI (AI inference chips), Animoca Brands (Web3 games), Pudgy Penguins (NFT IP), Catchtable (restaurant reservations), Neubility (delivery robots), OpenLedger (decentralized AI), Peaq (DePIN), SAGA (blockchain infrastructure), Chartmetric (music analytics), AmazeVR, Xangle (Crossangle) and Wishket. Sector tags on the site are Game, Content and Media, AI and Deep Tech, Commerce and Platform, Healthcare, and Web3 and Blockchain. The portfolio list was read from the firm's own portfolio page, and company names are taken as the page gives them.
Team
- Jaejoon Song, CEO. Seoul National University, electrical engineering. Previously Com2uS and Com2uS Holdings.
- Jongwook Oh, Director, Investment Team. Previously Capstone Partners, TS Investment.
- Jonghyuk Lee, President, CRIT Ventures USA. Previously HB Investment, NH-Amundi, IGIS, A.T. Kearney, J.P. Morgan.
- Dongwoo Lee, Director, Investment Team. Previously Netmarble, Coway, SK Holdings, SK Telecom; YG Entertainment outside director.
- Kangwook Lee, Game Lead. Previously Com2uS and Gameloft Korea.
- Yong Lim, Senior Associate. Previously Wemade, Tencent Korea.
- John Hong, Senior Associate. Previously Donghoon Investment, Hanmi Pharmaceuticals.
- Sungjoong Kim, Senior Associate. Previously Com2uS.
- Songkun Park, Associate. Previously Bithumb, Wemade, IDG Capital.
- Jikhan Jung, Advisor. Previously Samsung Electronics, Kabam.
- Wook Jin Chung, Director, Management Team. Columbia Law JD, previously Kim & Chang, Covington.
- Minseok Kim, Team Lead, Management Team.
Decision Process
Not disclosed. A multi-partner investment team operating many co-managed funds suggests a committee process. Marked unknown.
Founder Preferences
The firm's stated preference is for founders who take unconventional paths. In practice it backs Korean and global founders in game, content, IP and Web3, increasingly in AI hardware and software.
Geographic Focus
Primarily Korea, with a visible US presence (Pudgy Penguins, Sopo, Ologie, Doppler, Pixelverse, SAGA) and some Japan, Finland, Sweden and Singapore holdings. Contact: [email protected], +82 2 558 1940.