YOU Yeon-dong, Senior Manager | Amorepacific Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Team
Under our mission “We make A MORE beautiful world,” the goal of building a sustainable society has long guided our work. Today’s climate crisis and complex social issues demand more than conventional approaches. We recognized the potential of social ventures to address social issues through innovative business models. An impact fund gave us a way to direct capital beyond consumption, toward stronger social and environmental resilience while creating a more systematic, long-term influence.

YOU Conventional CSR initiatives directly support specific beneficiaries. An impact fund, on the other hand, is a strategic investment in organizations working to solve social issues. Corporate capital does not end with a one-time expenditure. Instead, funds circulate through a system built to create change.

YOU “A MORE Beautiful Challenge” in Korea became a testing ground for measuring the real-world impact of startups working to solve environmental issues. Concrete results in plastic circularity and ecological restoration gave us confidence in the scalability of technology-driven solutions. Building on our success in Korea, we plan to create a global innovation network capable of addressing environmental challenges worldwide while responding to local social issues.

PARK Jung-ho, Chief Sustainability Officer | MYSC
A simple way to understand MYSC’s role is to look at it as an entertainment agency. If MYSC is the agency, promising startups are trainees, and the fund formed through investments in those startups resembles an idol group. An agency discovers trainees, supports their debut, and helps them grow. In time, each person goes on to build an independent career. Similarly, MYSC identifies promising startups, invests in each business, supports growth, and helps founders build independent companies. Amorepacific’s support makes every stage possible.
We look closely at startups capable of creating social value that aligns with Amorepacific’s goals while achieving financial growth. After careful consideration, we select the right businesses for investment. Once we invest, we remain involved as shareholders and partners, helping each company grow while delivering meaningful impact. When a fund is liquidated, we take responsibility for financial returns and non-financial outcomes.

PARK For MYSC, which manages the impact fund, the starting point is somewhat different. Finding a good company alone is not enough. The company must also be capable of creating impact. First, we assess whether a company can clearly define the environmental or social problem it seeks to address and explain why that problem matters. We then examine how the company plans to address the problem through a viable business model.

YOU For Amorepacific, beauty begins with nature’s vitality and healthy ecosystems. When nature breaks down, our way of life loses its foundation, and the values we pursue as a company cannot endure. Our long-term commitment encompasses reducing plastic and carbon emissions, restoring soil, and conserving biodiversity. Harmonious coexistence with nature is the core element of what we define as “New Beauty.” Creating a sustainable environment is a responsibility we must uphold as a company.

YOU Our role goes beyond capital investment. We draw on Amorepacific’s resources to grow alongside social ventures as open-innovation partners. Partnerships have taken many forms. Together with Green Continue—an eco-friendly material company—and Innisfree, we developed a card wallet made from green tea byproducts. We also worked with Code of Nature and the Innisfree Moeum Foundation on a Jeju oreum (volcanic cone) restoration project. Collaboration across brands, product development, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives help startups bring their technologies to market and into everyday life.

PARK Partnerships are valuable because they turn uncertainty into opportunity for startups. There is room to collaborate on technology development and ESG planning. Such collaboration creates real synergy. Resources at Amorepacific give startups a springboard for growth. Startup ideas can also bring fresh energy to Amorepacific, while helping startups validate their business models.

PARK From a financial standpoint, we consider a company capable of independent growth once it reaches the break-even point (BEP) without support funding. Beyond financial performance, we assess whether a company is recognized in a local community or country as a source of effective solutions to a specific social issue.

YOU Impact funds are not assessed on financial performance alone. We also examine the social and environmental changes each investee company has created. We check how each company’s performance aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)^* and use internationally recognized frameworks such as IRIS+^** to measure them. The case of RUKITA, an example to be elaborated later, illustrates this approach. Beyond revenue and growth, we track measurable gains in young adults’ housing conditions, access to stable housing, and quality of life.

*An international framework of shared goals seeking to address universal human challenges such as poverty, disease, education, gender equality, children’s rights, refugees, and conflict; global environmental challenges such as climate change, energy, pollution, water, biodiversity; socioeconomic challenges such as technology, housing, labor relations, employment, production, consumption, social structures, law, domestic and global economies. The framework establishes 17 goals with 169 targets for 2030. Source: UNDP

**An Impact Measurement and Management (IMM) system developed by the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) Investors and companies can use the framework to objectively measure, compare, and optimize impact. The framework aligns closely with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Source: IRIS+

YOU It’s sustainability. Donations and campaigns also create meaningful social value. However, impact funds go further by building a structure for businesses to grow independently while continuing to address social issues. RUKITA is a great example from this impact fund. Watching RUKITA become self-sustaining, expand business operations, and broaden social impact gave me confidence to believe in lasting change beyond our initial support.

PARK RUKITA is an Indonesian proptech^* startup in the real estate industry. The company provides fully furnished co-living homes, apartments, and premium rental properties for young adults and single-person households in major cities. More than 1,200 locations operate nationwide. A real estate platform also helps young adults find suitable housing listings.

*A term combining property with technology. Proptech refers to the use of ICT, including AI, big data, and VR, in real estate services. Source: Korea Development Institute (KDI)

PARK Of all my experiences during business trips to Indonesia, rush-hour traffic is the one I would rather avoid. Heavy rain during the evening commute could leave me stuck for hours, sometimes pushing dinner back by two hours. One major cause of congestion is long-distance commuting. But why do so many people have to travel so far for work? Even basic, livable housing is hard to find in central Jakarta. Youths who move to Jakarta in search of work must face the same reality. Even when they try to find a place close to work, most have no choice but to stay in a Kost (boarding houses), with poor living conditions despite the high rent.

PARK Aboveground power lines posed safety risks, and open drains ran alongside the roads. The heat and odor were overwhelming. Seeing those conditions, I felt even more strongly that the housing RUKITA provides is essential for young people starting their working lives. Seeing young people with no choice but to pay high rents for Kost with poor living conditions, I felt RUKITA would be a real lifeline. I still feel the same way today.

PARK Yes. Young people with a stable home spend less time commuting. They also have more time to pursue better jobs. I believe solving housing issues can advance urban sustainability and job creation.

PARK Honestly, no part of the process has felt easy. (Laughter) Identifying companies with the potential to grow, go public, or be acquired is difficult enough. Finding startups with the potential to create meaningful impact is an even greater challenge.

YOU Rather than one particular moment, I find the recurring choices between short-term results and long-term impact most challenging. Impact investing values structural solutions and sustainable business models over quick returns. Ultimately, we measure success by the scale and direction of future change, rather than today’s visible results.

YOU Amorepacific’s impact investment journey reaches beyond financial returns. We aim to create a more beautiful future for people and the world. We hope technology from our social ventures will restore soil, slow the climate crisis, and provide innovative solutions for issues overlooked across society. Our goal is to help customers feel proud of joining a movement for a better world simply by choosing Amorepacific.

PARK The goal is not simply to change one company, but to create positive change across society. In the process, it can help shift the perceptions of a wide range of stakeholders. That is what makes this initiative meaningful—it is a starting point. I hope it sparks broader discussions and leads to more initiatives of this kind in the future.