Busan Metropolitan City has moved to leap into a "global startup hub" by combining public capital with its solid manufacturing and logistics infrastructure.
Beyond simple local startup support, the strategy is to expand the playing field of the startup ecosystem to the world through joint investment and cross-accelerating with member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
Park Hun-gi, head of Busan Union Holdings (BUH), met with ChosunBiz at the "2026 APEC SME Innovation and Cooperation Workshop" held in Guangzhou, China, on the 1st (local time) and said, "Busan's startup ecosystem is growing rapidly as traditional industrial infrastructure combines with bold investment by the local government," adding, "This year, we are putting all our efforts into ensuring that the 125 startups invested in by BUH achieve tangible global expansion results."
Held as part of "APEC China 2026," the workshop discusses SME innovation and cross-border investment plans among member economies. Park took the stage as the keynote speaker for the session "Busan growing into a global startup hub," drawing the attention of Asia-Pacific investors.
The core strengths Park cited for Busan are its solid industrial base and the city's dynamic will to build an ecosystem. As a global port city, it boasts strong marine and logistics infrastructure, and it also has a rich pool of technologies and talent developed by 16 local universities.
Currently, more than 11,000 tech startups are active in Busan, and the size of the funds created amounts to 1.1 trillion won. In 95 support facilities, about 150 customized startup programs operate each year.
BUH is the control tower of this ecosystem. Jointly established by the city of Busan and 16 universities, it is a hands-on nurturing platform that serves as a bridge linking public funds with the expertise of private venture capital (VC).
The results are proven in numbers. Using 8 billion won in initial capital injected by the city over the past 10 years as priming water, it invested in 125 corporations and generated more than 85 billion won in total economic value. It is credited with presenting a model answer for a public investment model by producing more than 10 times the revenue relative to the capital invested.
A representative success story is the excavator eco-conversion startup "ELLECT." It discovered a founder at the idea stage and linked a university technology transfer with seed investment, then secured a government research and development (R&D) project and attracted about 4 billion won in follow-on investment. ELLECT will launch a full-fledged push into the Japanese market through BUH's customized global expansion program "Ocean Gate 2026," which opens in Oct.
However, Park assessed that there are clear limits to growth solely within the local ecosystem. To scale up beyond the confines of a provincial city in Korea, connectivity with overseas markets is essential.
Park emphasized, "I strongly proposed to APEC member economies the expansion of market access, the sharing of proof testbeds, and cross-border investment among countries."
Park said, "Just as Guangzhou became a center of global trade with its powerful logistics infrastructure, Busan is also creating new momentum by adding innovation to its industrial asset," adding, "With this workshop as a starting point, we will complete a true Asian startup hub where innovators from around the world flock to Busan to find outstanding corporations."