Korea Startup Forum, the organizer of the global startup festival "ComeUp," said on the 20th that it has completed recruitment of participating corporations for the global expansion support program "ComeUp Stars 2026."
ComeUp Stars is a program designed for domestic startups to verify the potential of overseas markets they hope to enter in advance and to establish overseas expansion strategies based on networks with local experts.
The selected corporations will receive support including regional accelerators, local market mentoring, global networking, and business matching. They will have the opportunity to reduce trial and error that can occur in the early stages of entering overseas markets and to verify market fit and business viability.
This year, the program has expanded in scale. The number of selected corporations increased from 20 last year to 30 this year (five per region), and Singapore and India were added to the existing United States, Japan, China, and Europe, for a total of six regions.
From last month to on the 16th, a total of 621 startups applied, the highest number ever. That is about an 11% increase from last year (559).
By region, the United States had the most with 271 (44%), followed by Japan with 163 (26%), Singapore with 96 (15%), Europe with 52 (8%), China with 21 (3%), and India with 18 (3%).
This year, applications were accepted from startups across all industries without sector restrictions, and a variety of corporations sought global growth opportunities tailored to each country's characteristics.
The most requested mentoring area among applicant corporations was global marketing and sales strategy (30.8%), followed by local market entry strategy and market understanding (19.8%), and sharing of global expansion cases and local business experience (18.42%).
By industry, artificial intelligence (AI) accounted for the largest share at 17.23%, followed by healthcare and bio at 17.07%, and media and entertainment at 7.09%.
KOSPO plans to announce the final 30 selected corporations on Aug. 10 after document and interview evaluations. The final selections will be assigned in groups of five across six regions—the United States, Japan, China, Europe, Singapore, and India—and will participate in a customized accelerating program linked to the overseas expansion base "ComeUp House."
Kim Jae-won, chair of Korea Startup Forum, said, "Through this ComeUp Stars 2026 recruitment, we confirmed that domestic startups view various regions as practical stages for growth," and added, "By connecting with local expert and partner networks, we will reduce startups' trial and error, verify the potential for overseas expansion through country-specific customized accelerating, and support them in laying a foundation for growth."