[Interview] Lee Ji-seon, CEO of MustAC, "I Want to Support Female Entrepreneurs"

"Women's Startup Support Programs Should Not Be Merely Charitable"
"Women's Startups Aim to Mine Untapped Mines," Expressing Ambition

"I want to create support programs for women entrepreneurs."

Lee Ji-seon, CEO of Must Accelerator, which supports the entire growth cycle from startup inception to global expansion, emphasized the need for support programs for women entrepreneurs, stating, "Support for women startups should not be a form of charity."

In a recent meeting with Asia Economy at Seoul Startup Hub, CEO Lee pointed out, "Women are excelling in all fields, but cases in the startup sector are particularly rare," adding, "The proportion of women entrepreneurs receiving investment is also significantly low." She reiterated, "It's not about helping because they are women, but I truly believe there are many hidden gems, skills, and opportunities."

The proportion of women entrepreneurs in the startup ecosystem itself is low, and most investors are men. This trend is clearly reflected in recent survey results. According to Startup Recipe, a startup information company, the total investment amount raised by companies led by women in the first quarter of this year was 23.05 billion KRW, accounting for only about 2% of the total investment raised during this period. CEO Lee said, "The numbers clearly show this. I have the mindset that I need to mine this unknown mine called women-led startups."

Lee Ji-seon, CEO of Must Accelerator
Photo by So-yeon Park muse@

CEO Lee is herself a woman entrepreneur. She worked as an IT journalist at Electronic Times and Hankook Ilbo from 1988 and founded the PR service company Dream Communications in 1996. In 2007, she established MediaU, a social media communication consulting firm, and in 2015, she founded Michin Mulgo-gi, a mobile ordering O2O (online-to-offline) service for Noryangjin Fish Market.

Through Must Accelerator, established in 2007, she invests in technology sectors for a sustainable society such as bio, digital healthcare, environment, energy, marine, and climate tech. She is also interested in business areas that expand diversity, including women and regional balanced development. She operates 'Shinhan Square Bridge Incheon' in collaboration with Shinhan Financial Group. Since 2020, she has overseen the startup nurturing platform 'Shinhan Square Bridge Incheon' in Songdo, fostering 225 startups over four years. Among them, 144 companies received follow-up investments. The total investment raised amounts to approximately 309.3 billion KRW. She also runs 'Startup School Busan,' collaborating with Google Startup Campus. They systematically analyze what startups need to move to the next stage, diagnosing technology, business models, marketing, and investment attraction, and provide support focused on immediate needs.

Alongside supporting women entrepreneurs, CEO Lee has recently focused on the growth potential of K-Bio. She said, "Being in Incheon, where there is a bio cluster, many bio-related companies are entering, and I have a high regard for the potential of K-Bio," adding, "The global investment community highly values the potential of Korean bio companies." She explained, "One of the most important things in the bio field is discovering key substances. Originally, these were extracted and cultured from living organisms, but nowadays, they are found digitally and experimented on." She described how the K-Bio startup sector is making explosive progress thanks to IT advancements. She hinted, "Many investors who previously invested in tech have moved into bio investments, and there is truly limitless potential in the convergence of technology and bio."

Must Accelerator supports domestic startups in being selected for overseas startup nurturing programs or securing global investments. Since 2022, the global open innovation program 'Must Connect' has helped 19 domestic startups discover over 200 global partners and secure investments. Startups that went through Must Connect have achieved notable successes, such as being selected for the global pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson’s startup nurturing program 'JLABS.' There are plans to expand Must Connect’s reach to various countries including Japan and the United States. CEO Lee said, "Incubating startups and laying the foundation for growth gives a sense of fulfillment that cannot be exchanged for anything else," adding, "I want to discover and support startups with the will to create something and contribute to the path toward becoming a startup powerhouse."

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