Kona Venture Partners is South Korea's only independent, game-focused venture capital firm, founded in 2018 and based in Seoul. Led by CEO Choi Hwa-jin, the firm has built a track record of roughly 32 investments across 23 active portfolio companies, with five recorded exits, and has previously managed strategic-investor partnership funds with major gaming companies including Krafton, Kakao Games, Netmarble, and Tencent. In August 2026, Kona partnered with Nexon's newly formed investment subsidiary, Nexon Partners, and South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to launch a public-private gaming investment program worth up to $179 million over five years, centered on the $87 million Kona Global IP Investment Fund.
Kona Venture Partners leads early-stage sourcing and incubation for Korean game studios, investing from seed through Series A, with Nexon Partners co-investing in later Series A rounds and leading direct follow-on investment as studios approach closed beta testing and global launch.
The Kona Global IP Investment Fund targets three areas: new gaming IP with global scale potential, next-generation live-service games with strong user-acquisition economics, and studios applying AI to game development.
Portfolio companies are not required to sign publishing agreements with Nexon as a condition of funding, an "open ecosystem model" designed to give studios access to Nexon's development infrastructure, live-service operations expertise, and global marketing experience while retaining operational independence.
Kona Venture Partners is the general partner of the $87M Kona Global IP Investment Partnership, a venture fund registered under South Korea's government-backed mother-fund system and administered by Korea Venture Investment Corp (KVIC). It's the largest single fund ever formed under the Ministry of Culture's Culture Account.
The fund has three backers: South Korea's Ministry of Culture ($43M, as LP), Nexon Partners, Nexon's investment subsidiary ($42M, as LP), and Kona Venture Partners itself ($870K, as GP commitment). Separately, Nexon Partners has committed up to $94M more in direct follow-on capital for portfolio companies that graduate to growth stage, bringing Nexon's total five-year program to up to $179M.
Kona leads sourcing and initial investment from seed through Series A; Nexon Partners co-invests in later Series A rounds and leads follow-on into growth stage. First investment reviews are expected in the second half of 2026.
Kona has built this same model with other major Korean publishers before: Netmarble (2015), 4:33 United (2016), Kakao Games (2021, $19M), and Krafton (2023).
Leadership
Nexon's side of the program is led by Kim Han-joon, Nexon's Chief Investment Officer, alongside Nexon President and CEO Junghun Lee. Nexon has not published individual named partner titles for Kona Venture Partners' broader investment team beyond confirming Choi Hwa-jin as CEO.
Investment Strategy
Choi Hwa-jin brings more than 25 years of venture capital experience and has previously managed strategic-investor partnership funds on behalf of major Korean and global gaming companies including Krafton, Kakao Games, Netmarble, and Tencent.
Kona has historically co-invested alongside Kakao Ventures, Devsisters Ventures, Korea Investment Partners, and the Korea Development Bank.
The firm frames its approach around identifying studios in the "death valley" stage, after early development but before full pre-market validation, launch, and scale-up, and pairing early conviction with staged follow-on capital rather than one-off early bets.
Notable Investments
South Korea
