[THE INVESTOR] Chang Byung-gyu, founder of game developer Bluehole Studio, best known for the popular video game “Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds,” on Sept. 25 was named as chairman of the presidential Fourth Industrial Revolution Committee. 

Chang Byung-gyu

The committee, under direct control of President Moon Jae-in, aims at upgrading Korea’s competitiveness in futuristic technologies such as artificial intelligence, data processing and robotics.

The committee, consisting of 20 business people and five government officials, will announce a new policy direction in November and more detailed action plans in December. 

Chang, 45, a KAIST graduate, is considered one of the key leaders in the nation’s venture industry. He co-founded Neowiz, a gaming company, in 1996 and established First Snow, a search engine developer, in 2005 that was sold to Naver the following year.

In 2007, he set up the game maker Bluehole and Bon Angeles Venture Partners, a venture capital firm that offers funding and mentorship for early-stage startups. More than 100 startups have received support from the firm till now.

By Park Ga-young (gypark@heraldcorp.com)