Altos Ventures

Our Altos Ventures CEO Night in Korea returned for the first time in a year and a half. At Altos, we design every gathering with a clear intention: to stay close to founders and to create the practical, high-value connections they need. This year, we organized small-group deep dives followed by broader networking, enabling founders to discuss challenges openly and meet the people who could help move their work forward. Candid conversations and peer-to-peer insight sharing were the theme of the evening, and it was exciting to see new relationships forming in real time. It was a reminder that curating intentional, thoughtful environments can accelerate the connections founders seek, more efficiently than months of individual outreach. We are grateful to everyone who joined us and contributed to the momentum of this event!

Today marks an important milestone on PermitFlow's company building journey as they announce their Series B, and Altos Ventures is proud to deepen our commitment to the company as an investor. PermitFlow has built a breakthrough solution to build construction's AI workforce, supporting general contractors through every step of the preconstruction process, and taking what was once a slow and highly manual process, and transforming it into something seamless and automated. Congratulations to Francis Thumpasery, Samuel K. Lam and the entire PermitFlow team on today’s exciting announcement.  We can’t wait to see the incredible value this team will create for their customers in the years ahead!

The OpenAI Startup APAC team visited Altos Ventures to host an exclusive hands-on session for engineers in the Altos portfolio. The group explored the latest product updates together with the OpenAI product architects, experiencing live demos and talking through practical use cases. The thirty participants in attendance had the opportunity to try these new tools firsthand, get feedback on applying them to their workflows, and hear directly about OpenAI’s plans to support Korean startups. Thank you to the OpenAI team for hosting this dedicated session for our engineers. We make it a priority to bring thoughtfully curated and practically useful content to our engineering community and support our engineers with these opportunities as they build and scale their companies. Special thanks to 오영택 Thomas Jeng for leading this session from start to finish!

Last week, Cathy Shin Anderson hosted students from the USC VC Academy and Spark SC at Altos Ventures. The conversation focused on how to distinguish between 'fox' energy (chasing multiple strategies and shiny things) and 'hedgehog' focus (obsessive commitment to one big thing) when assessing potential investments.   Cathy shared how conviction at Altos comes through patient observation and the accumulation of small signals around how someone builds. This discipline of watching for hedgehogs versus being dazzled by foxes is a core principle of "venturing differently."  Cathy also shared how this principle shaped her own growth as an investor and why it matters more than ever in today’s world. We love partnering with the next generation of venture investors. If your student venture group is visiting the SF Bay Area, reach out. We'd love to meet you! 👋

On November 6th, we hosted the AI Builder Salon in Seoul alongside Anthropic and Saehan Ventures, bringing together approximately 150 builders. It was a privilege for Altos Ventures to be part of this significant milestone as Anthropic officially launched its collaboration with the Korean market. Benjamin Mann from Anthropic shared Claude's technological vision, followed by two insightful panel sessions. The first session featured Toss, 당근, and 엘리스 discussing their development experiences with Claude Code and MCP, and how AI is evolving into a true collaborative partner. The second session brought together Cinamon, TainAI, mofac studios, and studioTEO to explore innovations in creative workflows and the redefinition of human creativity in the AI era. It was an invaluable opportunity to connect with Korea's leading builders. We look forward to creating many more exciting opportunities together with Anthropic! 🎂

We’re honored to share that, for the 9th year in a row, Founders in Korea have named Altos Ventures the most preferred and trusted VC partner. This recognition reflects the trust of the extraordinary, category-redefining founders we have the privilege to serve. Founders tell us they value long-term commitment, support during the hardest moments, deep global networks, and early belief that endures. And these principles have guided Altos since day one.We remain committed to helping founders scale from Korea to a world-class level. If you’re building something ambitious and global from Korea, our door is always open! https://lnkd.in/gzUxkEvK

Tae Yoon, Partner at Altos Ventures, recently joined Mangomint for MangoMeet, their annual team gathering, to celebrate the company’s continued growth in the salon and spa software space and share insights into how AI is impacting the way vertical software companies are built. Tae’s take: “AI is undoubtedly expanding what’s possible, but the fundamentals of building enduring software companies remain the same. The best teams stay relentlessly focused on their customers, craft truly differentiated products, and execute with discipline. AI is a powerful enabler (not a substitute) for focus, creativity, and genuine user love.” If you are looking to build generational Vertical SaaS / Vertical AI companies over the long haul, please reach out - we’d love to connect. 🚀

At ChannelCon(채널톡) 2025 in Seoul, Han Kim, General Partner at Altos Ventures, shared his perspective on building with AI. “We’ve entered an era where working with AI is essential. It’s how we solve customer problems faster and more effectively.” Han emphasized that today’s most successful companies are those embracing AI to build and launch products with greater speed and efficiency. He highlighted 마이리얼트립 (Myrealtrip) and its founder Donggun Lee as a prime example of leveraging AI and agile teams to innovate rapidly. AI is reshaping how businesses operate. Altos Ventures stands with founders leading this transformation.

Shining a spotlight on a mission-driven team shaping and leading the future of severe mental illness care: Amae Health. Altos Ventures is proud to lead Amae Health's Series B financing as Sonia Priscilla García, Stas Sokolin and their team work tirelessly to improve the lives of the millions of people who suffer from severe mental illness. We are deeply grateful for their commitment to this important cause and excited to back their vision for redefining the future of mental health care.

We’re proud to spotlight Heeeun Park, Partner at Altos Ventures and Kauffman Fellow, who spoke last week at the Kauffman Fellows Summit in London. Heeeun shared her firsthand perspective on the rise of K-beauty, an industry born in Seoul that continues to shape global trends in beauty, wellness, and personal care. From skincare and cosmetics to medical tourism and medical devices, what began as a national passion has become a global cultural force. Korea’s high standards and pursuit of excellence fueled the engine of its global rise. What was once dismissed now inspires the world. This is how Korea turned beauty obsession into innovation. At Altos Ventures, we’ve been part of this journey from the early days. We’ve watched founders turn creativity, ambition, and cultural pride into brands that captivate the world. And we’re excited to keep learning and building alongside them as Korea’s innovation story continues to unfold. 👉️We've gotten a lot of requests for this, so here’s a link to Heeeun's presentation! https://lnkd.in/eWbkCu6m