Companies from 46 Countries Gather as Global Startup Festival 'COMEUP 2025' Kicks Off

A Three-Day Exchange on AI, Globalization, and Entrepreneurship
275 Startups Exhibit, with National Pavilions from Seven Countries
Han Sung-sook: "Supporting Startups Rewriting the Future"

The largest global startup festival in Korea, COMEUP 2025, opened on December 10 at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

Launched in 2019, COMEUP is a startup festival where domestic and international innovative startups, investors, and stakeholders from the global, large, and mid-sized corporate sectors gather to network. Under the slogan "Recode the Future," COMEUP 2025 will feature a variety of programs through December 12, focusing on technology, globalization, and entrepreneurship as its main themes.

This year, 275 startups from 46 countries are participating in the exhibition, showcasing innovative products and services. Seven countries, including Saudi Arabia and India, have set up national pavilions to promote their own startups and entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Key speakers at the conference include Tareq Amin, CEO of the Saudi state-owned artificial intelligence (AI) company Humane, and Park Sunghyun, CEO of Rebellion. CEO Tareq Amin emphasized the indispensable role of AI in shaping the future, while CEO Park Sunghyun shared his journey as an entrepreneur redefining innovation. In addition, the three-day conference will cover a wide range of topics, such as the future of app ecosystems in the AI era and Gen Z climate tech entrepreneurs.

Furthermore, a broad range of global venture capital (VC), corporate venture capital (CVC), and accelerators have been invited, providing promising startups with opportunities to meet global investors. A total of 35 global companies and domestic large and mid-sized companies are also participating to explore collaboration opportunities with startups. Investor booths and large and mid-sized corporate booths have been set up so that startups can meet with them on site without prior matching.

In addition to the main event, various side events are taking place simultaneously, such as the "Venture and Startup Promotion Merit Awards Ceremony," which honors contributors to the promotion of ventures and startups. Other highlights include the "OpenData X AI Challenge Opening Ceremony," which offers AI startups opportunities for proof-of-concept; the "Challenge! K-Startup 2025 Grand Finale," a joint startup competition hosted by 10 government ministries; and the "2025 K-Startup Grand Challenge Demo Day," which selects the best foreign startup team of the year.

Meanwhile, before the opening ceremony, Minister Han Sung-sook of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups met with CEO Tareq Amin of Humane to discuss broad directions for cooperation between Korea and Saudi Arabia. The ministry listened to Humane's plans for AI cooperation with Korea and the establishment of "Humane Korea," and discussed ways to promote collaboration between the two countries in the AI venture and startup sectors, including expanding the entry of Korean AI startups into the Saudi market. The ministry also expressed appreciation for Humane's active participation in the "SME and Startup Expansion to the Middle East" program, jointly promoted by the ministry and the Saudi government this year, and requested continued cooperation in the future.

Minister Han stated, "In this rapidly changing era, I support the challenges of startups that are rewriting the future with brilliant ideas and technologies," adding, "I hope COMEUP 2025 will serve as an opportunity to gather wisdom and plant the seeds of collaboration."

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