'Seoul Campus Town Startup Companies' to Surpass 1,000 This Year

Last Year, 646 Startup Companies Active with 34.7 Billion KRW Sales... This Year, 369 Companies to be Nurtured Reaching 1,015
Expansion of 72 Startup Support Spaces at 34 Universities... Supporting Youth Startups in AI, Bio, Mobile Platform Industries

Campus Town Project University Status

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Seoul City announced on the 18th that the number of 'Seoul Campustown Startup Companies' is expected to exceed 1,000 this year.

Since the project began, 134 companies were established from 2017 to 2018, 175 in 2019, and as of 2020, 646 companies are growing. These 646 companies achieved sales of 34.7 billion KRW last year.

This year, about 20 additional startup support spaces will be added at over 10 universities including Seoul National University, Sookmyung Women's University, and Sogang University, and 369 new startup companies will be fostered at 34 universities. This means a cumulative total of 1,015 startup companies will have been created.

Seoul Campustown has been strengthening company capabilities by creating 72 startup spaces around 34 universities from the early stages of the project to enable startups to operate stably, and by supporting human and material resources such as funding and networks.

In particular, the 'university-specific startup spaces' created by utilizing idle spaces are regarded as symbols of Campustown and serve as focal points for startup culture. Konkuk University Campustown installed the KU Youth Startup Studio (20 Gwangnaru-ro 26-gil) to revitalize the emerging pet industry and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Korea Pet Academy to cooperate in creating a mature pet culture.

Yonsei University Campustown established the base space S-Cube (61 Yonsei-ro 2na-gil) in December 2020 in collaboration with Seodaemun-gu. S-Cube serves as the hub for the northwest area (Eunpyeong, Seodaemun, Mapo) Campustown.

‘Technology startups’ based on university research resources such as fintech, bio, and artificial intelligence (AI) are also increasing. Ollink, which improved payment method inconveniences and attracted 800 million KRW in investment from four companies including Naver, and EnteraPharix, developing new drugs for intractable diseases, recorded a total investment attraction of 25.2 billion KRW from resident companies in 2020 alone. There are 16 startup companies with annual sales exceeding 1 billion KRW or investment attraction exceeding 300 million KRW.

Startup companies growing together with local commercial districts are also active, such as a side dish set subscription platform business linked with local merchants and application development to revitalize wholesale markets. The startup company 'Monthly Heukseok' from Chung-Ang University provides stable income to merchants through the side dish set subscription platform business, creates jobs by employing young delivery workers, and simultaneously offers consumers high-quality meal plans.

Kim Ui-seung, Director of Seoul City's Economic Policy Office, said, “Despite the COVID-19 situation, the advancement of ‘technology startups’ centered on non-face-to-face industries such as artificial intelligence and fintech, and ‘service startups’ considering regional revitalization, is remarkable. As Seoul Campustown enters its fifth year, we will strengthen cooperation with universities so that it can establish itself as a forward base for innovative startups and become a hub for the birth of unicorns.”

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