15 Entrepreneurs and Investors from 15 Countries Gather... A Launchpad for K-Startup Growth

'Try Everything' until the 17th
Over 500 startups attending
10,000 online participants on the first day

At the startup festival "Try Everything" held on the 15th, Park Haeng-woon, CEO of The Coder (right), is giving a presentation.

On the 16th, following Jason Schenker, Chairman of the Futurist Institute, Stephan Trojansky, CEO of Scanline VFX, took the stage at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul. The common keyword shared by Schenker, ranked the world’s number one futurist by Bloomberg, and Trojansky, a future technology expert behind the visual effects of movies like Avengers, was ‘startup innovation.’ The audience, composed of members of the startup ecosystem, focused on the future of startups leading innovation, global expansion, and strategic utilization of new technologies. This was the scene of the startup festival ‘Try Everything 2021.’

The event brought together entrepreneurs and investors from 15 countries both online and offline. Hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and organized by Seoul Startup Hub, Try Everything took place from the 15th to the 17th at the Shilla Hotel and the National Theater’s Sky Theater under the slogan ‘Jump Up! Scale Up!’ Over 500 startups participated, and a total of 91 specialized programs focused on scale-up and global expansion were operated. The programs held on the 15th already attracted an online audience of 10,000 participants.

Leading off with keynote speeches by Chairman Schenker and CEO Trojansky, Peter Diamandis, Chairman of the XPRIZE Foundation who has founded over 20 companies to deliver new global insights to domestic startups, also took the stage. Top global venture capitalists such as Hans Tung, Managing Partner at GGV, and Hemant Taneja, Managing Partner at General Catalyst, eagerly awaited meetings with Korean startups. The ‘Global Unicorn Cases’ session, featuring success stories of Korean entrepreneurs growing into unicorns in the U.S., will be presented by Team Hwang, CEO of FiscalNote; An Ikjin, CEO of Moloco; and Lee Giha, CEO of Primer Sazepartners, drawing much anticipation.

At the startup festival "Try Everything" held on the 15th, Il-yong Kim, CEO of Vaythers (right on stage), is giving a presentation.

Each company also prepared ‘open innovation’ programs where startups can receive know-how from global conglomerates, secure investments, co-develop solutions, and achieve global expansion. Haier, Binggrae, OB Beer, S-Oil, Mercedes-Benz Korea, and Kyowon sought promising startups. The startups selected will receive commercialization support funds and investment opportunities from these companies, as well as office space at Seoul Startup Hub.

The event reflected Seoul’s policy efforts to revitalize the startup ecosystem. Seoul has nurtured over 13,000 companies across 49 startup facilities including Seoul Startup Hub and Global Startup Centers. These companies have generated sales of 5 trillion won and created employment for 18,000 people.

In particular, as part of this event, Seoul established a continuous meet-up process for startups struggling to attract investment and investors seeking investment opportunities. Since its launch earlier this year, over 2,000 meet-ups have been arranged as of September, creating ongoing connections between startups and investors. Lee Taehoon, Head of Seoul Startup Hub, stated, “We will make Seoul a startup city that competes through entrepreneurship and steadily supports growth stages up to becoming mid-sized companies. Through tailored startup support policies at each stage, we will more than triple the number of unicorn companies in Seoul.”

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