Korea's largest startup event COMEUP aims to grow into global gathering

Park Jae-wook, chairman of the Korea Startup Forum and CEO of car-sharing company SOCAR, speaks during a press conference about this year’s COMEUP startup event at Dream Plus Gangnam in Seoul, Monday. Korea Times photo by Baek Byung-yeul

COMEUP, an annual event of startups from Korea and abroad, will become even more global this year, helping widen the opportunities for more local companies to go abroad and global companies to expand their networks here, according to the organizer, Monday.

“The COMEUP event was organized by the private sector starting last year. The 2022 COMEUP was well-received and successfully concluded as a private initiative, focusing on the needs of startups. This year, we're aiming to help innovative startups enter the global market and expand their connections with international startups,” Park Jae-wook, chairman of the Korea Startup Forum and CEO of car-sharing company SOCAR, said during a press conference.

“As part of this plan, we are bringing startups from France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Senegal and other countries to COMEUP. We have prepared a variety of programs to support the startup ecosystem through tough times. I hope that everyone who participates in COMEUP 2023 will experience growth together and take a step forward to a new future,” the chairman added.

This year’s COMEUP will be held from Nov. 8 to 10 at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul. Since the event was kicked off in 2019, COMEUP has grown into the nation’s largest startup event, attracting over 50,000 visitors each year since the 2020 event.

This year's event will see participants coming from a total of 29 countries, nine more than the 20 that were represented in 2022, which includes innovative startups, investors and startup stakeholders from Korea and abroad.

Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee Young speaks during a press conference introducing this year’s COMEUP startup event at Dream Plus Gangnam in Seoul, Monday. Korea Times photo by Baek Byung-yeul

Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee Young said that Korea's startup policy is no longer limited to supporting Korean founders, but also seeks to strengthen support for Koreans working abroad and foreigners working in Korea.

“The government is planning to create a 5 trillion won ($3.7 billion) startup fund through a public-private partnership. COMEUP will be an important platform for Korea's plan to become a global hub for startups,” the minister said.

The organizers of COMEUP said that the biggest feature of this year's event is that it has evolved into an international event. A separate global zone will be established for overseas participating companies. Also, over 160 venture capital companies, including domestic and foreign venture capital, will participate in the Global CVC Conference during COMEUP, to find investment opportunities in startups.

The organizer said about 60 percent of the participating startups come from overseas, the event's highest number ever seen, making it a truly global event.

They added this year’s event also aims to evolve into a startup growth platform through the COMEUP Stars program, which aims to discover and nurture early-stage startups. As part of the program, 13 top investment firms from Korea and abroad were selected for the first time this year.