Martial Arts, 'NextRise 2022 Seoul' Held... Over 1,000 Startups Participate

175 Global Corporations and Investment Firms Also Participate

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] ‘NextRise 2022, Seoul,’ jointly hosted by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) and KDB Industrial Bank, opened on the 16th at COEX in Samseong-dong, Seoul.

Attending the opening ceremony were Lee Gwan-seop, Vice Chairman of KITA; Kang Seok-hoon, Chairman of KDB Industrial Bank; Kim So-young, Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission; Lee Seung-geon, CEO of Viva Republica; and Jang Se-young, CEO of DeepBrain AI, among others.

In his opening remarks, Lee Gwan-seop, Vice Chairman of KITA, said, “The global innovation ecosystem is now organically connecting and expanding beyond regional boundaries, and in industries and business sectors, innovative technologies are breaking down barriers between sectors and determining corporate survival. If we do not actively lead innovation, we risk missing greater opportunities due to fear of small risks.” He added, “We will strive to make NextRise a catalyst for driving innovation in the Korean economy.”

Held over two days, this event features one-on-one business meetups between companies, conferences with domestic and international distinguished guests, a startup innovation technology exhibition, recruitment briefings by 60 unicorns and startups, tech workshops by Google and Adobe, and pitching events. Notably, the one-on-one business meetups included participation from 175 global corporations and investors such as Volkswagen, Pepsi, Airbus, and Meta, conducting over 2,000 business cooperation and investment consultations with about 1,000 startups.

On the afternoon of the 16th, KITA, the Seoul Business Agency (SBA), London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), and UK Catapult signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to promote the UK smart city testbed. They agreed to cooperate on supporting local demonstrations for 10 startups in the UK starting in the second half of this year, dispatching startup delegations, and holding local roadshows.

Meanwhile, on the afternoon of the 17th, Prime Minister Han Deok-su, KITA Chairman Koo Ja-yeol, KDB Industrial Bank Chairman Kang Seok-hoon, and Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee Young are scheduled to visit the venue and hold a meeting with about 10 startup representatives. Jang Seok-min, Director of Digital Innovation at KITA, stated, “Based on NextRise, we will expand various support projects for the global scale-up of domestic startups, including overseas demonstrations and open innovation.”

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