Seoul to host global startups in 'Try Everything 2022'

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Business

Tue, September 26, 2023 | 22:40

Companies

Seoul to host global startups in 'Try Everything 2022'

Posted : 2022-06-27 10:54

Updated : 2022-06-28 19:20

Startups around the world can dive into the ocean of broader resources, knowledge and business opportunities at Try Everything 2022, an annual conference hosted this September by the Seoul Metropolitan Government. Gettyimagesbank

By Ko Dong-hwan

The Seoul Metropolitan Government is hosting an annual conference for global startups this coming September, looking to make the city a global platform for startups that need a financial boost and good business advice.

Try Everything 2022 will be held from Sept. 21 to 23 at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul. Corporations and investors as well as anyone interested can join the offline event.

First held in 2019 under the title "Startup Seoul: Tech Rise," the event maintained international recognition in 2020 and 2021 despite the COVID-19 global pandemic by being hosted online and in person. Some 1,430 prospective global startups from 21 countries, including the United States, Canada, England and France, have participated in the event during the past two years. At the previous events, over 540 global startup experts and 150 investment firms shared information relevant to running businesses and ways to attract investments.

American computer scientist and Alphabet Chairman John Hennessy, Scanline VHX founder Stephan Trojansky, The Futurist Institute Chairman Jason Schenker, former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma and Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph are among those who delivered speeches at the previous events hosted by the city government.

This year, the Startup Policy Division under the city government's Economic Policy Bureau will introduce some 70 programs where startup operators meet up with medium-sized and large companies, pitch for investor relations and learn startup trends through seminars by big names in global business.

Try Everything 2022 will also provide platforms for vibrant meetups between startups and venture capitalists to maximize investment opportunities for ambitions firms. Startups in the most anticipated industrial fields, like information communication technologies and bio technologies, can apply for such meetups through tryeverything.or.kr starting June 28.

Bridged by the city government, participating startups can consult with venture capitalists and accelerators for business cooperation and network establishment. Outstanding firms among them can go deeper with investors in offline meetups during the event period. The city government said the previous two events featured some 3,511 meetups despite the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to investment deals worth over 57.5 billion won ($44.3 million).

"Seoul, for the first time, has entered the world's top 10 best cities for startups this year," said Hwang Bo-yeon, chief of the city government's Economic Policy Bureau, referring to the outcome of a survey by American think-tank research firm Startup Genome which was released earlier this month. "That is an outcome of serious efforts to accommodate innovative startup environments where investors and entrepreneurs can share know-how and strategies."

Hwang said he will try to make the city a global hub for creating unicorn companies by supporting promising startups displaying outstanding innovation and marketability.

The city government expects this year's event will draw about 60,000 participants both online and in person. Last year, over 53,000 joined the event online.

aoshima11@koreatimes.co.kr