The Nation's Largest Startup Festival 'ComeUp 2021' Opens on the 17th

Large-scale offline events held alongside phased daily recovery
Innovative startups 'ComeUp Stars' pitch and business matching with 72 companies 진행

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] COMEUP, Asia's premier startup festival that promotes the Korean startup ecosystem worldwide and provides opportunities for K-startups to expand overseas, will be held over three days from the 17th to the 19th.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the COMEUP 2021 Organizing Committee announced on the 16th that the global startup festival ‘COMEUP 2021’ will be held at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul.

‘COMEUP’ is an international event that has been held since 2019 to showcase the excellence of the domestic startup ecosystem to the world.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups plans to further strengthen communication and exchange between domestic and international innovative startups, investors, and global companies through a large-scale offline-centered global startup event alongside the phased recovery of daily life.

This year’s slogan (theme) is Meet the Future? Transformation, which succinctly expresses the purpose of startups reflecting on market environment changes after COVID-19 and preparing for the future ahead.

The opening ceremony of ‘COMEUP 2021’ held on the 17th proceeded in the order of theme video, congratulatory speeches, welcome address, roundtable, and startup booth visits.

President Moon Jae-in encouraged the successful hosting of ‘COMEUP 2021’ and the innovative efforts of the domestic startup ecosystem through a video congratulatory message at the opening ceremony. Minister Kwon Chil-seung of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups emphasized the significance of holding the ‘COMEUP’ event as an offline-centered event during the phased recovery of daily life in his welcome address, and expressed policy intentions to foster innovative startups by strengthening exchanges and cooperation among startups to sustain the second venture boom and the enthusiasm for innovative entrepreneurship.

Following this, Ahn Sung-woo, CEO of Zigbang and chairperson of the COMEUP organizing committee who prepared the event over the past year, served as the moderator for the roundtable, where a heated discussion among six panelists took place under the theme ‘The Great Transformation of the Korean Startup Industry.’

The opening ceremony video was broadcast live online through the ‘COMEUP website’ and the ‘COMEUP YouTube channel.’ All events held over the three days can also be viewed online.

‘COMEUP 2021’ consists of 12 conference sessions reflecting the latest startup trends and social interests, ‘COMEUP Stars’ pitching by domestic and international innovative startups, and a showcase of open innovation strategies by global companies. The conference will feature 84 distinguished speakers, including Kim Seo-joon, CEO of Hashed, a leader in global startup trends, delivering passionate lectures and panel talks.

The 72 innovative startups representing ‘COMEUP Stars’ in ‘COMEUP 2021’ are expected to provide practical support for participating companies’ investment attraction and promotion through investor relations (IR), business matching, and booth exhibitions targeting domestic and international investors.

In particular, the newly introduced ‘Open Innovation Strategy Showcase’ will present the directions and detailed strategies of 18 global companies actively pursuing open innovation, including Samsung and Google, aiming to discover collaboration models between startups and global companies.

Special events include the ‘Challenge! K-Startup King of Kings Competition’ on the first day, ‘Global Startup Day’ on the second day, and the ‘Great Startup Troubleshooter Platform King of Kings Competition’ on the third day.

Minister Kwon Chil-seung of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups said, “Through this event, we expect an increase in creative talents boldly challenging startups and a concentrated inflow of investment funds into the startup ecosystem,” adding, “We will continue efforts to create an innovative startup and venture ecosystem so that COMEUP can leap forward as the world’s best startup festival.”

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