Mint Venture Partners lands 3 KOSDAQ IPOs, returns first fund in 5 years
What's the deal? Mint Venture PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the bio-healthcare venture studio led by chairman Song Jae-hoon, said on March 3 that three portfolio companies from its first fund have listed on South Korea's KOSDAQ exchange. OrganoidsciencesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → listed in May 2025, antibody-drug conjugate developer AimedBioDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → in December 2025, and wearable ECG monitoring firm Mezoo in March.
The numbers: AimedBio delivered the highest return at 23.1 times invested capital, followed by Mezoo at 9.1 times and Organoidsciences at 1.47 times. The exits let Mint recover its principal and hurdle return five years after closing its first blind-pool fund.
The backstory: Founded in 2020, Mint runs a dual model, building companies directly as a venture studio while also investing as a venture capital firm. It closed its first fund in 2021 and has since backed 17 companies in South Korea and 10 abroad. Two new funds are now in the works.
What's the endgame? The firm plans to expand into AI healthcare, targeting drug development, diagnostics, and precision medicine where AI and biotech converge. On the studio side, it has founded four companies to date, including Seattle-based Key ProteoDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, which develops newborn genetic disease screening through protein analysis, and GenoTwinDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, an infectious-disease detection firm.
Its other studio ventures are ViewBrain HealthcareDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, which builds AI tools for early Alzheimer's diagnosis, and Lucera HealthcareDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a wearable OLED-based medical and beauty product maker.
Who's behind it? Song previously served as president of Samsung Medical CenterDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. He founded Mint after concluding that research breakthroughs need sustained support beyond initial technology development to become real businesses.
"During my time as president of Samsung Medical Center, pursuing medical technology commercialisation, I realised that turning research results into actual businesses requires continued support and a growth process even after a startup is established," Song said. He added that Mint aims "to build an ecosystem where the technologies and ideas of doctors and researchers connect to businesses" (translated from Korean).
The signal: Mint's clustered KOSDAQ exits show the venture-studio model gaining traction in South Korea's bio-healthcare sector, where returning a first fund's principal within five years remains uncommon. Its pivot toward AI healthcare tracks the broader convergence of biotech and machine learning shaping the industry's next wave.
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
