With Lotte Group’s expansion into biotech, it wanted its CVC, Lotte Ventures, to set up a new office in the world’s largest biotech innovation ecosystem, the US, with a new – 3-person team in the Bay Area. But going into a new market is never a walk in the park.  

My guest today is Leo Ahn, head of Lotte Ventures’ US office, who talks to me about what Lotte Ventures is trying to get from establishing a presence in the US, and the challenges he’s faced trying to get a new office on its feet in the first year.

There have definitely been some hurdles – starting with the lack of local contacts and name recognition, which is getting in the way of building networks and a deal pipeline, especially in a local VC ecosystem that is quite close and insular. Just the costs of setting up in the Bay Area are higher than most would think, and startups tend to prefer more thematic funds to generalist ones, unlike in Korea where there are fewer VCs, and many tend to be generalist.

So this first year has ended up being more about setting up and getting ready, rather than deploying capital. However, the unit is hoping to close the first $50-100m fund next year, followed up by another fund every 2-3 years as it grows its team. The unit is eager to get going, backing startups not just in biotech, but also in healthcare, food-tech, robotics, as well as more broadly AI, software, web3 and entertainment.

Opening a new CVC office in the US is not easy – here’s how Lotte Ventures is doing it.

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