Muheop-KIC Washington DC Joins Forces to Support Domestic Startups Entering North American Market

Lee Dong-ki, Head of the Innovation Growth Division at the Korea International Trade Association (left), and Moon Jeong-hwan, Director of the KIC Washington DC Center, are posing for a commemorative photo after signing a business agreement.
[Photo by Korea International Trade Association]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] The Korea International Trade Association announced on the 7th that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Korea Innovation Center (KIC) Washington DC to support startups' entry into the North American market.

Through the MOU signed the previous day at the Startup Branch in COEX, Seoul, the two organizations agreed to actively cooperate in ▲ scaling up startups in the North American region ▲ discovering promising startups and promoting and marketing them ▲ mutually utilizing startup support facilities. In the second half of the year, they plan to jointly promote projects such as hosting a roadshow for startups to attract investment in North America, collaborating on open innovation with local large corporations, and supporting market development.

North America is the most active startup ecosystem in the world and is considered the top region for Korean startups to consider entering first in terms of attracting local investment.

In particular, the United States holds a high status in the global startup ecosystem, producing more than 50% of the world's unicorn companies (assets over 1 trillion KRW, established within 10 years). According to the Trade Association, there were more than 82,000 startups in the U.S. in 2021, which is about three times larger than the combined number of startups in countries ranked 2nd to 9th globally by startup count, including India, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

Lee Dong-gi, Head of the Innovation Growth Division at the Trade Association, said, "We hope this MOU will be an opportunity to expand the scale and entry of our startups into North America," adding, "We will focus on opening overseas markets for startups through open innovation with global companies."

Meanwhile, KIC Washington DC was established in 2014 by the Ministry of Science and ICT to develop scientific and technological research and development achievements into international technology businesses and to support the overseas expansion of domestic technology-based startup companies.

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