A global start-up exchange event in collaboration with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) will be held in Jeju.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 3rd that it will hold the 'Global Startup Day in Jeju' at the Jeju International Convention Center (ICC) over two days from the 3rd to the 4th in connection with the 'APEC Ministerial Meeting on Small and Medium Enterprises'.
This event is characterized by implementing the three main agendas of the APEC Ministerial Meeting, which are innovative growth, sustainability, and inclusive growth, in the startup and venture scene. It will also integrate and connect three events: Korea's largest startup competition 'Challenge K-Startup', an overseas startup attraction program 'K-Startup Grand Challenge', and the 'Global Venture Investment Summit'.
'Global Startup Day in Jeju' will kick off on the 3rd with an opening ceremony that showcases the global start-up and venture ecosystem using AI holograms. The event will include an introduction to the Korean start-up and venture ecosystem, a talk by Nidhi Agrawal, co-founder of 'Hangul Snack', about her start-up story, and pitch presentations by domestic and overseas start-ups participating in Challenge K-Startup and the Grand Challenge.
In particular, 'Challenge K-Startup' has established itself as a platform for numerous innovative start-ups in their early stages and has become a gateway for young aspiring entrepreneurs. Over the past six months, ten ministries including the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism have announced 12 preliminary leagues, and the final competition for 225 teams, which outperformed a 33-to-1 competition among 7,377 teams participating, will officially start through the opening ceremony.
At the opening ceremony of Challenge K-Startup, there will be a session to share experiences from past winning corporations called 'Senior Entrepreneurs' Notes,' a special lecture by Lee Se-young, CEO of Wrtn, a generative AI company, and an alumni event where the final competition teams will mingle with senior companies. A product exhibition featuring five senior companies, including the smart webtoon production platform 'Toonsquare', the smart water quality management system and agricultural robot 'The Robotics', and the iris security recognition solution 'AJ2' will also take place.
The showcase for 'K-Startup Grand Challenge' will feature 40 overseas start-ups selected this year, along with graduate companies and domestic investors. The IR presentations by three representative start-up teams, including 'Veritas Vietnam', which makes eco-friendly palettes from agricultural waste in Vietnam, 'NIIO', an art tech solution for exhibition content management in the U.S., and 'Groundup.AI', an AI-based factory equipment anomaly detection solution from Singapore, will be held.
The stories of establishment and growth of senior corporations, including the AI-based Korean Wave export platform 'KFTV' from France and the AI-based chemical and material information platform 'Polymerize' from Singapore, will also be shared, and reverse IR sessions where domestic investment institutions explain their investment strategies to overseas start-ups will take place.
On the 4th, the 'Global Venture Investment Summit' will be attended by more than 70 overseas institutions from around the world, sharing global economic and investment outlooks, and discussing ways to expand global venture investment networks.
Minister Han Seong-suk said, 'Global Startup Day in Jeju is a starting point for connecting start-ups and investors, and expanding the global start-up and venture ecosystem.' She added, 'We will actively support Korea's leap to become a global start-up hub based on cooperation with APEC member countries.'