In Joon Hwang, CEO, Z Venture Capital, is one of the 100 leading corporate venturing professionals in our 2025 Powerlist.
In Joon Hwang is CEO of Z Venture Capital, the CVC arm of Japanese internet company LY Corporation. The fund is designed with a regional model, with dedicated partners in Japan, Korea, Singapore and the US, mirroring the parent company’s global footprint.
“While venture capital has traditionally been a local business, innovation rarely moves in sync across regions. What may seem an obvious opportunity in the US might not yet resonate in Japan or Korea,” says Hwang. “This structure gives us the proximity needed to move with conviction locally, while still executing against a global strategy.”
Z Venture Capital’s latest fund was launched this year. ZVC2 Investment Partnership is a ¥30bn ($211m) fund that targets high-growth areas of technology, investing in LY’s core business areas of media and entertainment, e-commerce and fintech. It also expands the CVC’s investment focus to deep tech sectors including AI, space and robotics.
Hwang says the unit is being “pragmatic” amid the current macroeconomic uncertainty. “We are watching sectors that are under direct macro pressure with more caution,” he says. But he also believes that opportunities are to be found everywhere.
“Some of the most iconic companies have emerged during downturns and we remind ourselves of that,” he says. “Our conviction in early-stage innovation has not wavered: it is in times like these that real value often gets built.”
Pointing to some of the CVC’s success stories, he cites Wongnai, a restaurant review platform, and Visional, a HR tech platform provider. Hwang says that both investments led to some of the fund’s strongest financial returns and were also a valuable strategic fit with the parent.
“Some of the most iconic companies have emerged during downturns and we remind ourselves of that. It is in times like these that real value often gets built.”
For Hwang, good venturing follows from having good people in place. “I believe in empowering local leadership. Our partners operate with a high degree of autonomy, because great investing requires cultural context, local intuition and market fluency,” he says.
“My role is to create the guardrails and shared vision that enables our team to move fast, take ownership and build long-term value.”
The Global Corporate Venturing Powerlist represents the 100 individuals spearheading the future of the corporate venturing industry.
These individuals excel in terms of their venturing approach and structure, number and quality of portfolio companies and in their contributions to the corporate venturing profession.
