Minister Lee Young Meeting Google and Heading to New York... Supporting Korean Startups' Global Expansion

Meeting with Donald Harrison, Google President
Agreed to Strengthen Cooperation on 'Changgu Program'
Discussion with Korean Unicorns and Startups
Support Initiatives Including Korea-US Joint Fund Creation

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Lee Young, Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (photo), will visit Silicon Valley and New York in the United States consecutively to help domestic startups enter the global market. He will meet with Korean unicorns (unlisted companies valued at over 1 trillion KRW) to listen to their difficulties and visit Google's headquarters to discuss cooperation plans.

On the 19th (local time), Minister Lee will have a meeting with Donald Harrison, Head of Global Partnerships and Corporate Development at Google's Mountain View campus in California. Donald Harrison is the chief officer responsible for Google's global strategic partnerships.

This visit was arranged to express gratitude for Google's active participation in the 'Korea-US Startup Summit' held in New York on the 20th and 21st, and to discuss ways to expand cooperation between the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and Google.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups has partnered with Google since 2019 to support startups through the 'Changgu (Startup + Google) Program.' The ministry provides commercialization funds, while Google supports marketing, networking, and more by leveraging its experience and know-how. So far, over 300 startups have participated in the Changgu program.

Minister Lee and Donald Harrison plan to continuously strengthen cooperation for the development of the domestic startup and venture ecosystem. Minister Lee will tour Google's Mountain View campus and exchange opinions on the possibility of applying Google's innovative work environment to the public sector.

Additionally, on the previous day (the 18th), Minister Lee, together with Lee Jong-ho, Minister of Science and ICT, held a roundtable meeting with Korean unicorns that have entered Silicon Valley, U.S. venture capitalists (VCs), and Korean startups.

The roundtable was attended by Kim Dong-shin, CEO of Sendbird, and Ahn Ik-jin, CEO of Moloco, who founded startups in Silicon Valley and grew them into unicorn companies. They shared experiences and advice for domestic startups to pioneer the global market. Domestic startups planning to attract investment from global capital also attended, voicing difficulties in the global expansion process and challenges in attracting overseas investment, requesting government support. Minister Lee responded that he would actively support them.

Minister Lee stated, "We promise support through active inter-ministerial cooperation so that startups can expand beyond the narrow domestic market into the global market," and added, "We will create synergy effects of support by strengthening global networks through collaboration with global companies and domestic large corporations."

Meanwhile, through the Korea-US Startup Summit, Minister Lee plans to continue efforts to support domestic startups' global expansion, including establishing Korea-US joint funds and networking with global big tech companies and unicorns.

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