Korea’s creative-tech investment landscape is entering a new chapter. With Square Enix joining Crit Ventures’ KRW 37.5 billion content fund, global capital is now flowing directly into Korea’s gaming, K-pop, and IP industries. The move signals a turning point for Asia’s venture ecosystem—where cultural technology, cross-border capital, and startup innovation begin to converge.

Japan’s Global Game Giant Joins Korea’s New Content Investment Fund

Crit Ventures has launched a KRW 37.5 billion (about USD 27 million) “IBK-Crit Global Content Investment Partnership,” marking a major step for Korea’s cross-border venture ecosystem.

The announcement, made on October 23, 2025, confirms that Japan’s Square Enix—developer of the Final Fantasy series—has become a limited partner (LP) in the fund. And this is Square Enix’s first-ever participation in a Korean venture-capital vehicle, underscoring the growing convergence between Japan’s gaming industry and Korea’s creative-tech startups.

Other LPs include Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK), Kolmar Holdings, and ALUX, all backing Crit Ventures’ strategy to accelerate innovation across gaming, K-pop, media, and intellectual-property (IP) sectors.

Fund of Funds Program and Cultural-Tech Expansion

Crit Ventures was selected in April 2025 as a designated general partner (GP) under the Fund of Funds program led by Korea Venture Investment Corporation (KVIC). The mandate covers export-oriented SMEs and startups in the cultural industry that demonstrate global competence through overseas revenue or foreign subsidiaries.

Building on that framework, the IBK-Crit Global Content Investment Partnership aims to provide both capital and strategic support to projects that integrate creative content with scalable technology. The fund is part of Korea’s broader effort to expand venture-backed exports beyond hardware into entertainment IP and digital experiences, key growth engines in Asia’s evolving creative economy.

Square Enix and Crit Ventures: Investing in Global-Ready Creativity

Managing Director Lee Jong-hyuk, the new lead fund manager, said:

“We will select companies with strong potential and provide the investment and support needed for them to grow into global top-tier enterprises.”

Crit Ventures emphasized that Square Enix’s entry will pave the way for deeper collaboration with domestic game developers and content startups, building long-term partnerships between Japanese and Korean creative industries.

The firm has already attracted backing from Supercell, Ubisoft, NetEase, and Garena, placing it among the few Korean VCs with sustained engagement from major global publishers.

Korea’s Content Economy Enters a Global Investment Cycle with the Crit Ventures Fund

With the new fund, Crit Ventures now manages eight venture vehicles—including the Crit Global Scale-Up Fund, K-Net-Crit Content Fund, and KIP-Crit Interactive Content Fund—pushing its total assets under management (AUM) beyond KRW 300 billion.

The firm’s portfolio illustrates how Korea’s cultural-tech ecosystem is diversifying:

• ABUTTON – game development
• Kai Media – K-pop distribution
• Chartmetric – music-data SaaS
• Galaxy Corporation – AI-based entertainment tech
• RunUp Company – international film production

In 2025, Crit Ventures expanded its global network through investments in Clink (Japan), Regime International, and 1Self World, showing how Korean venture capital is increasingly shaping regional creative value chains.

This development also showcases to global investors and policymakers that Korea’s Fund of Funds framework is evolving from domestic startup support into a global collaboration platform. It is now capable of attracting multinational LPs and advancing the country’s cultural-export agenda.

Square Enix Partnership: Korea’s Cultural-Tech Momentum Builds Global Credibility

Square Enix’s participation in a Korean VC fund has become a successful representation for a new phase of Asia-Pacific venture integration, where intellectual-property industries and technology finance intersect.

As Korea positions itself as a hub for creative-tech investment, the success of Crit Ventures’ fund will test the country’s ability to maintain transparent governance while scaling global partnerships.

If they effectively execute this new fund collaboration, it could strengthen international investor confidence in Korea’s content economy and mark a turning point for cross-border cultural-tech innovation in the region.

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