Seoul City to Create Regional Startup Valleys as a 'Youth-Friendly Startup City'

'10th Seoul Campus Town Policy Council' Mayor Oh Se-hoon and 49 University Presidents' First Meeting
Basic Direction of 'Seoul Campus Town 2.0' for Fairness and Win-Win Youth Seoul... Detailed Comprehensive Plan to be Announced in June

Campus Town Status Map

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Seoul City is creating a “Youth-Friendly Startup City Seoul” by establishing startup valleys linked to campus towns in three zones (Northwest, Southwest, Northeast) and mobilizing all policy resources to support growth into unicorn companies. Seoul City is also focusing its efforts on developing young people’s social problem-solving ideas into businesses, while introducing performance evaluations for campus towns and providing incentives to universities that achieve tangible results.

Seoul City will announce this vision at the “10th Seoul Campus Town Policy Council” held on the afternoon of the 6th at Korea University (SK Future Hall), attended by Mayor Oh Se-hoon. This event marks the first meeting between Mayor Oh and the presidents of 49 universities to share the vision and discuss ways for universities and local communities to develop symbiotically.

Considering the COVID-19 situation, the policy council will be attended by Jeong Jin-taek, President of Korea University and Chair of the Policy Council, along with 14 other council members and 16 participants including Baek Jae-hyun, CEO of Aol Korea, a representative startup from the campus town.

Following the sharing of Seoul Campus Town’s business achievements, Kim Ui-seung, Director of Seoul City’s Economic Policy Office, will present the “Seoul Campus Town 2.0 (tentative name) Basic Direction.” A discussion on the development plan for campus towns, involving Mayor Oh and university presidents, will follow.

The Policy Council serves as a policy governance body that deliberates, advises, and supports the policy direction of the campus town project. Established in November 2016, it currently consists of 50 members (the mayor and 49 university presidents).

The vision announced this time corresponds to the basic direction of “Seoul Campus Town 2.0 (tentative name)” that Seoul City will pursue. The goal is to support young people in achieving their dreams through “startups” that anyone can challenge. This aligns with Mayor Oh’s inauguration speech emphasizing “Fairness and Coexistence in Youth Seoul.”

First, startup valleys will be created in three major zones: Northwest Zone as the “Youth Startup Mecca” (Yonsei University, Ewha Womans University, Sogang University, etc.), Southwest Zone as the “R&D Hub” (Seoul National University, Soongsil University, Chung-Ang University, etc.), and Northeast Zone to “Strengthen University-Local Linkages” (Korea University, Kyung Hee University, University of Seoul, etc.). Further expansion will be considered in the future.

Until now, campus towns were developed on a “point basis” by individual universities, but the plan is to connect them into “line-based” clusters to scale up. The goal is to generate startup synergies through inter-university collaboration and to achieve balanced regional development effects.

Support will also focus on helping startups leap beyond the initial stages to become unicorn companies. Seoul City will mobilize all policy resources such as the Future Innovation Growth Fund, open innovation linked with large corporations, and R&D support programs. Additionally, young people’s creative ideas for solving social problems will be actively commercialized. Support will cover all stages from consulting to investment attraction linked with social impact, enabling business models to generate actual profits.

A performance evaluation system will be introduced to provide additional support to campus towns that achieve excellent results. Incentives will be given to universities that demonstrate outstanding achievements in startup and regional coexistence fields to encourage expansion of business outcomes.

Under the four basic directions presented this time, Seoul City plans to comprehensively collect opinions from the Policy Council, universities, autonomous districts, and campus town project stakeholders to establish and announce the Seoul Campus Town 2.0 (tentative name) plan by June.

Jeong Jin-taek, Chair of the Policy Council and President of Korea University, said, “University collaboration is crucial at this stage for the Seoul Campus Town project to take a leap forward in youth startups and regional development,” and added, “We hope for greater interest and support from Seoul City to facilitate cooperation among universities.”

Mayor Oh Se-hoon said, “Seeing the seed of the campus town project idea that I conceived during my tenure in 2009 actually come to fruition is very moving,” and added, “Based on the Seoul Campus Town 2.0 promotion plan to be prepared in the first half of the year, we plan to establish campus town valleys by zone. Seoul City will work together with youth, universities, and local communities to make Seoul a youth-friendly startup city and a campus town that nurtures unicorns.”

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