What Is the Secret Behind the Remarkable Success of GwanakS Valley, Gwanak-gu's Nakseong Venture Valley & Sillim Startup Valley?

Established 9 Startup Infrastructure Facilities in 2 Years and 9 Months... Expanding to 13 by Next Year... Programs to Spread Venture Culture & Creation of a 20 Billion KRW Startup Support Fund

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] The areas of Nakseongdae in Gwanak-gu, known as ‘Nakseong Venture Valley,’ and the university district-centered ‘Sillim Startup Valley’ are transforming into innovative economic ecosystems leading venture startups, based on excellent human resources such as ‘youth’ and ‘Seoul National University.’

Under the 7th elected administration, Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Jun-hee) is promoting ‘Gwanak S Valley,’ a self-sustaining startup ecosystem where young people can stay, work, and start businesses locally by strengthening startup capabilities and support based on regional infrastructure and capacity.

The district has established nine startup infrastructure facilities in just two years and nine months, as a result of efforts to turn the area, once a barren land for startups, into a hub for ventures and entrepreneurship.

In March last year, the ‘Nakseong Venture Startup Center’ (2 Nakseongdae-ro) and the ‘Nakseong Venture Startup Center R&D Branch’ (38 Nakseongdae-ro) were opened to serve as key bases for Nakseong Venture Valley, providing affordable office spaces and operating various startup programs. Currently, a total of 13 promising startups are housed there, actively developing their capabilities in diverse fields such as dementia prevention and smart home care.

On the basement first floor of Nakseongdae (Gang Gam-chan) Station on Subway Line 2, the ‘Seoul Startup Cafe Nakseongdae Branch’ was established, where any citizen can participate in startup networking, consulting, and education. It offers meeting rooms, networking spaces, and digital media facilities that enable the production of in-house corporate promotional videos.

This year, two additional startup support spaces were expanded around Nakseongdae. Seoul City invested 7.1 billion KRW to newly establish the ‘Seoul Startup Center Gwanak’ (545 Bongcheon-ro) in February, and the parking lot site next to the Nakseongdae-dong Community Service Center was transformed into a first-floor parking lot and second-floor startup space, scheduled to open in April.

Following its selection as a comprehensive project in the 2019 Seoul Campus Town initiative, five ‘Startup HERE-RO’ locations were established in the university and Nakseongdae neighborhoods, fully operating various startup and regional win-win programs utilizing Seoul National University’s manpower, technology, and excellent network infrastructure.

Currently, ‘Startup HERE-RO 2, 3, and 4’ house 31 startups with potential to grow into global companies in fields such as artificial intelligence, big data, biotechnology, and smart health.

The district plans to add one more ‘Startup HERE-RO 5’ location this year.

Seoul National University purchased land in Nakseongdae-dong and plans to build ‘Startup HERE-RO 1’ by next year, creating a hub for mutual growth and innovative economy between the university and the local community. Additionally, since March, a maker space has been operated within the Seoul National University Research Park, providing a space to utilize the university’s excellent human, physical, and intellectual assets.

The district plans to expand the number of startup infrastructure facilities from the current nine to 13 by 2022, linking the creation and operation of startup spaces in cooperation with public and private companies such as SH, LH, KT (Korea Telecom), and KB (Kookmin Bank).

Moreover, various startup support programs such as forums, demo days, and consulting are operated to spread venture culture and create a friendly venture environment. Gwanak-gu has established a 20 billion KRW scale startup support fund, the first among basic local governments nationwide, to continuously drive the growth of startups based on original technologies within the region.

Park Jun-hee, Mayor of Gwanak-gu, stated, “The Gwanak S Valley project, aimed at making our district a global startup hub like Silicon Valley or Zhongguancun, is progressing smoothly,” adding, “We will spare no support in space, technology, and investment to help companies grow and settle locally so that Gwanak-gu can become a leading venture startup city in technology entrepreneurship.”

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