145 Startups Expand to 12 Countries... Going Global with Seoul Startup Hub as a Launchpad

Establishing a System to Discover and Nurture Excellent Companies with Global Corporations
Selecting 5 Companies through 'Startup Autobahn Korea'... Supporting Entry into the German Market

Seoul Startup Hub Exterior View

#On the 10th, at Peaches located in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, the 'Startup Autobahn Korea' Expo Day (performance sharing event) took place. Soo-bin Lee, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the startup Cochlear.ai, took the stage. He spoke about how a domestic startup developing audio artificial intelligence (AI) solutions was able to collaborate with the global company Daimler Group (parent company of Mercedes-Benz) to enter the global market. This year, Cochlear.ai signed a 'Technology Collaboration Non-Disclosure Agreement' (NDA) with Daimler's headquarters in Germany, with Seoul Startup Hub playing a significant role. Last December, the company participated in a startup hackathon co-hosted by Seoul Startup Hub and Mercedes-Benz Korea. Recommended by Seoul Startup Hub, they were invited to an investor relations (IR) event held at Daimler headquarters in February this year, and subsequently, their AI voice recognition solution was recognized, leading to the NDA signing. On this day, Young-seung Jang, CEO of Seoul Business Agency, also cited Cochlear.ai's case, saying, "They are raising the status of Korean startups with excellent technological capabilities."

Seoul Business Agency's startup incubation institution, Seoul Startup Hub, is emerging as a 'hub' for domestic startups to expand overseas. Since last year, the excellent startup selection and incubation system established with global corporations has been showing results. According to Seoul Startup Hub on the 14th, through various global expansion support projects since last year, 145 domestic startups have entered a total of 12 countries. The countries of expansion include the United States, Japan, China, Singapore, Vietnam, Germany, and others. Through cooperation with governments of each country, global companies, accelerators, and venture capitalists, promising startups are being supported to 'scale up' in the global market beyond Korea.

To this end, since last year, Seoul Startup Hub has built an excellent startup selection system with companies such as Mercedes-Benz, P&G, OB Beer, S-Oil, and CJ ENM. A representative program that recently opened the path for five promising domestic startups to enter the global market is 'Startup Autobahn Korea.' Startup Autobahn is a platform established by Daimler Group in 2016 to discover startups capable of entering the global market. Since its launch in Germany, it has been held in the United States, China, India, and other countries, discovering over 5,500 startups. This year marks the seventh time Startup Autobahn has been held worldwide, with Korea hosting it based on the cooperative system built between Seoul Startup Hub and Mercedes-Benz Korea since last year. A Seoul Startup Hub official explained, "Since October last year, we have been closely cooperating with Mercedes-Benz Korea to discover and nurture startups with excellent capabilities and potential to enter the global market in fields such as future mobility and artificial intelligence."

Through Startup Autobahn Korea, startups such as 'Seoul Robotics,' which developed autonomous driving software algorithms; 'Vestella Lab,' which developed digital map-based indoor navigation; 'Thirteen Floor,' which developed a non-face-to-face online education platform; 'Coconut Silo,' which spun off from Hyundai Motor Group as an in-house venture and provides night maintenance and replacement services using a cargo truck-exclusive platform; and 'Happy Technology,' which developed premium car wash services, have been able to enter the global market. Seoul Startup Hub plans to provide follow-up support for global expansion, including local acceleration in Germany, for the finally selected companies. Eui-seung Kim, Director of Seoul Metropolitan Government's Economic Policy Office, said, "Even amid the COVID-19 situation, we will strengthen support for startup growth by building networking with global and large corporations so that our startups' innovative services and technologies can create new industries and capture overseas markets."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.