Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
KTO hosts tourism startup Demo Day in Singapore
Korea Tourism Startup Center investor relations Demo Day is held in Singapore, Wednesday. Courtesy of Korea Tourism Organization
By Lee Hae-rin
The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) held its Korea Tourism Startup Center (KTSC) investor relations Demo Day in Singapore, Wednesday, to showcase the innovative technologies of Korea’s leading travel tech startups to key industry stakeholders in Singapore and Southeast Asia, the state-run tourism promotion agency said Thursday.
The three-day event, which kicked off Tuesday, bridged nine Korean tourism ventures with Singaporean and Southeast Asian venture capital firms, investors, corporations and other industry stakeholders in the travel and tech ecosystem for networking and business opportunities.
The nine companies that participated in the event were Monolith, Tripbtoz, Uniquegood Company, Eoding, Gadget Korea, NomadHer, Uniuni, K-Style Hub and Teuida.
On the first day, a seminar was held on Singapore market entry strategies and Singapore Airlines’ new digital innovation lab, known as KrisLab, held a proof of concept session. The second day offered an introduction to the Singapore Tourism Authority's startup program, or the Singapore Tourism Accelerator, and domestic tourism startup investor relations pitching. On the final day, discussions were held on investment and collaboration through one-on-one matching between nine Singaporean investors and the participating Korean startups.
"Since establishing the KTSC in Singapore in August 2022, the KTO has achieved significant overseas investment attraction in a short period of time, with over 670 business matching cases and support for establishing 10 corporations," said Kim Dong-il, the executive vice president of the KTO.
"The KTO will continue to support the service exports of local travel tech companies to strengthen connections within the startup ecosystem."
Meanwhile, Kim met with representatives from Singaporean venture capital firms specializing in tourism, including KB Fintech Lab and the Korea Venture Investment Corp.’s Singapore office, to discuss ways to establish a strategic partnership with KTSC Singapore and support the global expansion of small and medium-sized tourism venture companies.
Kim Dong-il, third from left, the executive vice president of the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), and Nicholas Cocks, center, co-founder of Velocity Ventures, pose with KTO officials during Korea Tourism Startup Center investor relations Demo Day in Singapore, Wednesday. Courtesy of Korea Tourism Organization