Asan Nanum Foundation Selects 10 Startups for "Asan Voyager" U.S. Market Entry Program

Silicon Valley On-Site Camp Based at Maru SF
Up to 20 Million Won in Living Expenses Provided

The Asan Nanum Foundation announced on April 21 that it has selected 10 teams to participate in the 2026 batch of "Asan Voyager," a program supporting early-stage startups aiming to enter the U.S. market.

"Asan Voyager" is a program designed to support software-based early-stage startups targeting the U.S. market in their efforts to expand globally. The program goes beyond market exploration to offer an execution-focused acceleration process, including customer validation, partnership building, and the creation of initial revenue streams.

The 2026 batch recorded a competition rate of 16:1. The 10 selected companies are: Versework, Belinker, SkinSeoul Lab, AinB, Wesley, WIM, Ija, ZetikAI, Pierrot Company, and FintaAI. The cohort includes teams connecting Korea’s industrial strengths, such as K-beauty and manufacturing, with global demand, as well as teams pursuing the market with technology-based solutions in fields such as security, bio, and robotics. All of these startups are currently working to validate their products and expand their businesses in the U.S. market.

The Asan Voyager 2026 batch teams will benefit from a range of support, including one-on-one coaching for U.S. market entry, seminars featuring invited experts, a local residency camp in Silicon Valley focused on networking programs, up to 20 million won in local living expenses, and a community based on collaborative learning.

The core program is a Silicon Valley camp, which will take place in May for approximately two weeks. During this time, batch teams will use "Maru SF," a short-term global community hub operated by the Asan Nanum Foundation in the U.S., as their base, and will directly engage in customer meetings, market validation, and networking activities in Silicon Valley.

Throughout the camp, teams will have the opportunity to refine their U.S. market entry strategies through one-on-one coaching with leaders who have experience from startup to scaling up in the U.S. They will also gain insights into the local ecosystem through seminars with North American market experts and experienced entrepreneurs. In addition, various community programs will be offered to encourage peer entrepreneurs to share their hands-on experience, review, and refine their go-to-market strategies together. Among the batch teams, four will be selected through a separate evaluation to present at the Chung Ju-yung Startup Competition in the second half of the year.

Heo Yeona, Head of the Global Team at the Asan Nanum Foundation, stated, "The chances of successfully entering the U.S. market increase when startups directly face challenges and take on opportunities locally. I hope that the Asan Voyager 2026 batch teams will use the Silicon Valley camp as a starting point to meet local customers and markets firsthand and build on that experience to strengthen their global competitiveness."

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