[Interview] Park Junhee, Gwanak-gu Mayor, "Establishing an Innovative and Coexistent Economy Ecosystem Leading Venture Startups"

With Nakseong Venture Valley & Sillim Startup Valley as the two main hubs, the 'Gwanak S Valley' project shows remarkable results... 11 startup infrastructures established locally, expanding to 16 by 2022... Programs to spread venture culture & a 20 billion KRW startup support fund created

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] “Gwanak-gu is transforming into an innovative economic city leading ventures and startups through the coexistence of businesses, universities, and the local community.”

Park Jun-hee, Mayor of Gwanak-gu, said in an interview with this publication, “Over the three years of the 7th elected term, Gwanak’s economic structure has undergone change and innovation.”

Based on local infrastructure and capabilities represented by ‘youth’ and ‘Seoul National University,’ Gwanak-gu is building a self-sustaining startup ecosystem and promoting ‘Gwanak S Valley,’ where young people can stay, work, and start businesses in the area through startup growth and support.

The district has made efforts to transform the area, which was once barren for startups, into a hub for ventures and entrepreneurship, resulting in the establishment of 11 startup infrastructure facilities within three years.

In March last year, the ‘Nakseong Venture Startup Center’ (2 Nakseong-daero) and the ‘Nakseong Venture Startup Center R&D Branch’ (38 Nakseong-daero) were opened to serve as key bases for Nakseong Venture Valley, providing affordable office spaces and operating various startup programs.

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

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

Five ‘Startup HERE-RO’ locations, the startup bases of the Gwanak-gu-Seoul National University Campus Town project, were established in Daehak-dong and Nakseongdae-dong, fully operating various startup and local coexistence programs utilizing Seoul National University’s manpower, technology, and excellent network infrastructure.

Currently, ‘Startup HERE-RO 2, 3, and 4’ house 31 startup companies with potential to grow into global enterprises in fields such as artificial intelligence, big data, and smart health. The district plans to add one more ‘Startup HERE-RO 5’ location in the second half of this year.

On the 8th, the district held the opening ceremony of the ‘Gwanak S Valley Startup Center,’ the first fruit of public-private-academic cooperation, and established startup spaces linked with KT and KB Financial Group, which signed a business agreement to revitalize the venture startup ecosystem with the district.

Mayor Park emphasized the need to establish a virtuous cycle startup ecosystem by attracting private capital investment to bring venture companies into the region, allowing excellent early-stage ventures to grow, recover funds, and reinvest.

To activate Gwanak S Valley startups and private investment, the district signed agreements in 2019 with Seoul National University Technology Holdings, private investment institution Bukook Securities, and Quantum Ventures Korea. Together with Seoul National University, it has also signed agreements with KT in 2020, KB Financial Group in May this year, and Woori Financial Group in June, seeking to expand investment opportunities for startups.

Moreover, the district operates various startup support programs such as forums, demo days, and consulting to spread venture culture and create a friendly venture environment. It also established a 20 billion KRW startup support fund, the first of its kind among basic local governments nationwide, to continuously drive the growth of startups based on local core technologies.

By next year, the district plans to build a total of 16 startup spaces and solidify its position as a venture startup city by establishing institutional foundations that encourage voluntary corporate inflow, such as tax benefits through designation as a venture business promotion district and district unit redevelopment.

Mayor Park Jun-hee stated, “The Gwanak S Valley project, aimed at making our district a global startup hub like Silicon Valley or Zhongguancun, is progressing smoothly. 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.