Startup Festival 'ComeUp 2023' Opens... Evolving into a Global Event

Held at DDP from 8th to 10th
Over 700 participants from 35 countries

‘COMEUP 2023,’ the largest startup festival in Korea, will be held for three days from the 8th to the 10th at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Jung-gu, Seoul. Since its inception in 2019, COMEUP has evolved into a global event this year by attracting participation from overseas companies.

The country's largest startup festival, 'COMEUP 2023,' is taking place on the 8th at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Jung-gu, Seoul.

At the opening ceremony of COMEUP held on the same day, Lee Young, Minister of SMEs and Startups, presented the vision of a ‘Global Startup Ecosystem Network’ in his welcoming speech. Although there are startup clusters worldwide such as Silicon Valley in the U.S. and Station F in France, there is a lack of close exchange among them. The vision is to connect these startup clusters into one network centered on Korea. To support borderless entrepreneurship, the ministry plans to ease startup and employment visa systems and establish a global fund worth 10 trillion won by next year. They also plan to implement a digital network to enable startups worldwide to interact and collaborate without physical space constraints.

Minister Lee said, “I hope COMEUP 2023 becomes a platform where new innovations and the future are envisioned and startups from around the world exchange ideas,” adding, “The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will take the lead in strengthening the roles and status of startups worldwide.”

The opening ceremony was attended by several overseas government agencies and global companies, including Sami bin Ibrahim Alhusseini, Director General of the Saudi Arabian SME Authority; Abdulaziz Al Rishi, Deputy Director General of the Omani SME Authority; Marc-Antoine Jamet, Chairman of Cosmetic Valley; Olivia Herbie, Chief Executive Officer of Viva Technology Ecosystem; and Howard Wright, Vice President of AWS Startup Division.

Overseas startups accounted for about 60% of this year’s COMEUP. Accordingly, a separate ‘Global Community Zone’ was newly established for approximately 100 overseas startups. Around 700 participants from 35 countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the United States, France, Switzerland, Japan, and Vietnam, are attending. Notably, large delegations from Saudi Arabia and the UAE are visiting.

The ‘Conference’ session, Future Talk, is organized around themes corresponding to different stages of startup growth, such as “Are You Really Going to Start a Business, Dreamer?” and “Global Expansion: Misconceptions and Truths.” Starting with Jiolpak, the most notable musician of the first half of the year and founder of the lifestyle platform ‘Syndromes,’ about 70 speakers will participate in over 20 topics during the three-day event.

The second day of the event is designated as Open Innovation Day. More than 20 global companies, including NVIDIA, Dassault Syst?mes, Hyundai Motor Company, and Naver Cloud, will present successful collaboration cases with startups.

Visitors can also experience booths of COMEUP Stars, selected through a competitive process with an average ratio of 7.4 to 1, and the Initial Public Offering (IPO) pitching stage. Business matching with more than 160 venture capital (VC) firms, including domestic and international VCs and corporate venture capital (CVC), will also be conducted.

COMEUP 2023 is open to anyone through on-site registration. All events can also be viewed via the COMEUP website and the COMEUP YouTube channel.

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