On Wednesday, August 5, the Graduate School of Global Entrepreneurship and Venture Business at Kookmin University (President Jeong Seung Ryul), led by Dean Lee Woo Jin, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Korea Angel Investment Association (Chairman Lee Jong-hoon) for “joint research and education on technology startups and angel investment.”

The signing ceremony took place alongside the opening ceremony for the “Research Institute for Startup Investment & Entrepreneurship (RISE),” an affiliate of the Korea Angel Investment Association, held that day at the Association’s headquarters. RISE is a newly established organization dedicated to researching relevant policies based on the Association’s accumulated data on angel investment and technology startups, as well as its practical experience in the field.

To expand its research collaboration base, the Korea Angel Investment Association signed a multilateral MOU with three institutions: Kookmin University’s Graduate School of Global Entrepreneurship and Venture Business, Hanyang University’s Graduate School of Technology Management, and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies’ Global Business Research Institute. Kookmin University’s Graduate School of Global Entrepreneurship and Venture Business, an educational institution that offers specialized degree programs in entrepreneurship, participated in this agreement. About 10 key officials attended the event, including Lee Jong-hoon, Chairman of the Korea Angel Investment Association; Lee Woo Jin, Dean of Kookmin University’s Graduate School of Global Entrepreneurship and Venture; Kwon Kyu-hyun, Dean of Hanyang University’s Graduate School of Technology Management; and Choi Byung-chul, Director of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies’ Global Business Research Institute, to discuss the institute’s vision and future operational direction.

Under the agreement, the two institutions plan to identify and carry out joint research projects in the fields of technology startups and angel investment, as well as jointly develop and operate educational programs to foster angel investors and entrepreneurs. They will also promote personnel exchanges, including the participation of research fellows from the association’s affiliated institute.

Kookmin University operates a master’s program at the Graduate School of Global Entrepreneurship and Venture Business and a doctoral program in Entrepreneurship at the General Graduate School. Building on this agreement, the university plans to establish a research collaboration framework linking these two degree programs to ensure that research begun at the master’s level can lead to in-depth research at the doctoral level. It is expected that not only graduate school faculty but also doctoral students will be able to participate in the exchange of research fellows with the Association’s institute. Current students at the Graduate School of Global Entrepreneurship and Venture Business have participated in faculty research projects as research assistants and co-researchers, and have also been involved in running training programs for angel investors. Moving forward, the graduate school plans to expand its practice-oriented research programs, in which master’s and doctoral researchers analyze current issues in the domestic angel investment ecosystem based on real-world data, in conjunction with the identification of thesis topics.

Lee Woo Jin, Dean of Kookmin University’s Graduate School of Global Entrepreneurship and Venture Business, stated, “Entrepreneurship education is not something that is completed within the classroom; it only translates into practical competence when students directly work with real-world data.” He added, “Taking this agreement as an opportunity, we will strengthen research capabilities that bridge the Master’s program in Entrepreneurship to the Ph.D. program and support current students in gaining both research experience and industry networks.”

Lee Jong-hoon, President of the Korea Angel Investment Association, said, “We will work closely with the universities that have signed this agreement to develop the institute into a leading domestic research hub that drives the qualitative growth of the angel investment ecosystem.”