'Look into business opportunities in China'

Jo Sang-rae

By Choo Sung-ho

Jo Sang-rae, CEO of Platum, a Korean online media outlet that focuses on worldwide technology startups, news and information, is known as an expert on China among tech entrepreneurs and venture capitalists in Korea.

Jo has been providing up-to-date news on Chinese startups and trends for Korean entrepreneurs seeking to expand their business into the Chinese market by providing such information in both Korean and Chinese.

After graduating from Tamkang University in Taiwan, he joined TNM media, a blog content distributor, where he met his current business partners.

While other Korean online tech media focus on delivering tech news from Silicon Valley and other Western countries, Platum, founded in September 2012, aims to play a bridging role between Korea and China.

"Even as Silicon Valley is still viewed as a global center for startups, we should start looking into business opportunities in China as it is becoming an increasingly lucrative market for various technological products," Jo said.

"Korean startups are better positioned to penetrate into the Chinese market, compared to their counterparts from Western nations, thanks to similar economic, social and cultural characteristics between the two nations. For instance, a mobile application developed in Korea also tends to work in other Asian countries."

With support from the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, as well as other government organizations, Platum participated in Techcrunch 2013 in Shanghai in November with 12 Korean startups.

"Thanks to a partnership with Technode, Techcrunch's China partner, we succeeded in introducing promising Korean startups and building a solid network with Chinese companies." Jo said.

He is also looking for business opportunities in Taiwan.

"Too many app stores and different billing processes on each app make it harder for app developers to market their products in China," Jo said. "However, there is no such problem in Taiwan. One of our strategies is to help Korean startups succeed in Taiwan first and then enter the Chinese market. Since the popular products in Taiwan tend to become popular among Chinese consumers."

He added that Platum is planning to hold its own tech conference and event in China or Taiwan next year to publicize more Korean startups in the Chinese-speaking markets.

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