How one foreign entrepreneur is building a future in Korea — on his own terms
Acafo founder Casimir Agossouworks at his office, December 2025. Courtesy of Acafo
Beyond the job fair
Every summer, thousands of international students across Korea step off the stage at graduation and into a high-stakes countdown. With student visas ticking toward expiration, they find themselves in the race to secure full-time employment in a competitive job market.
For many foreign graduates, the transition from campus life to a long-term career in Korea is far more complicated than they expect. While some pursue traditional corporate jobs, others are searching for different ways to build a future here.
“There are a lot of talented foreigners in Korea,” said Casimir Agossou, a startup founder originally from the West African nation of Benin. “The challenge is helping people understand where they fit best and how they can contribute.”
Agossou is the founder of Acafo, an artificial intelligence (AI)-based platform designed to help international job seekers better understand and navigate Korea’s employment landscape. Drawing from his own experiences studying and working in Korea over the past decade, he hopes the platform can help make the process less overwhelming for other foreign graduates trying to build successful lives in the country.
This year, Agossou joined the 2026 cohort of Asan Sanghoe, a prestigious startup program connected to the Maru startup ecosystem and the legacy of Hyundai founder Chung Ju-yung, who used “Asan” as a pen name.
Acceptance to the program was more than professional recognition.
“This was actually my second time applying to the program,” Agossou said. “Getting accepted this time made the experience even more meaningful. It reminded me that persistence matters and that growth often happens through repeated effort.”
Unlike many people who first became interested in Korea through K-pop or Korean dramas, Agossou said his interest began with curiosity about the country’s rapid economic development.
“I came to realize that Korea was a very poor country in the 1950s, and in around 50 years, it became a very strong, developed country,” he said. “I wanted to understand the mindset behind that transformation.”
Acafo founder Casimir Agossou speaks during a job fair in October 2025. Courtesy of Acafo
The gap nobody was filling
Agossou’s arrival in Korea in 2014 through the Global Korea Scholarship (GKS) program brought him to Kangwon National University in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, where he pursued graduate studies in environmental science.
Upon finishing his studies, however, Agossou found that transitioning into Korea’s job market was not so straightforward.
“There was not much demand when it came to a foreigner in the environmental sector,” he recalled. “I could work as a researcher but I didn’t like it. So I had almost no opportunities.”
The breakthrough came when he stopped targeting his major and started leveraging his actual assets: trilingual fluency. His first real offer came from a company selling used cars, where he was hired as an intern to handle overseas buyers. It wasn’t glamorous, but it taught him something about how the Korean job market works — and doesn’t work — for foreigners.
“It’s not like I didn’t have skills,” he said. “I just realized over time that I needed to focus on opportunities where my background and strengths were a better match.”
Those experiences later helped shape the direction of Acafo.
Rather than functioning as a traditional job board, Acafo works through a skills assessment process that maps a user’s background and abilities to actual job categories with demand in Korea. The platform then provides a clear strategy: what kinds of companies to target, how to position oneself and what steps to take next. Think of it as a GPS for foreign career seekers — not a destination, but a route.
“Before someone goes to a job board, they have to know: can I get this job or not?” Agossou said. “We help people understand what they bring to the table and how they can position themselves.”
Acafo founder Casimir Agossou / Courtesy of Acafo
A new chapter in Korea’s startup ecosystem
Acafo also reflects broader conversations taking place within Korea as the country looks for ways to attract and retain more global professionals amid demographic and labor challenges.
Casimir believes that stronger collaboration between institutions, companies and international communities will play an important role moving forward.
“Success in Korea is rarely an individual effort,” he said. “Especially in the startup ecosystem, growth often comes from collaboration, mentorship and the support of the people around you.”
His participation in Asan Sanghoe introduced him to founders and mentors from a variety of industries — experiences that are helping him better understand Korea’s startup ecosystem and think more broadly about Acafo’s future.
“I joined the program with the expectation of learning how to build a stronger and more scalable company within the Korean ecosystem,” he said.
Agossou added that he feels inspired by the legacy of the late Hyundai founder, whose story remains closely tied to the entrepreneurial spirit behind the program.
“I deeply admire the mindset of Chung Ju-yung — someone who overcame adversity, saw opportunities where others saw limitations and created impact beyond his own generation,” he said.
While startup programs often culminate in pitch showcases and investment opportunities, Casimir said his immediate focus remains on Acafo and making the platform accessible to more users.
“Every single foreigner has something to offer in Korea,” he said. “The problem is they just don’t know where to find the best match. We want to take them from completely lost to absolute clarity. Either it works, or it works.”
Visit acafo.io for more information.
Alice Hong is a freelance writer and comedian based in Seoul. Follow @hippohong on Instagram.