The Korean government is taking an active role in trying to grow the Korean startup ecosystem. The NextRise 2023 Seoul is a global startup conference and exhibition to connect Korean startups with the global startup ecosystem. The first NextRise was launched in 2019 and now in 2023, they will continue their quest to bring more global companies into South Korea. Korea is the world’s 6th largest HUB for deep tech entrepreneurs. Therefore, any startups around the world that would like to have a chance for in-depth networking and business meetings with big Korean corporations such as Hyundai, Samsung, LG, etc. should apply for this event. Moreover, aside from Korean corporations, there will be Fortune 500 companies that will also attend as potential partners. NextRise 2023 took place at COEX this June on the 16th and 17th.

KDB (Korea Development Bank) and KITA will hose NextRise 2023. They will also be in charge of preparing 1:1 Meet-Ups with multinational corporations/VCs and startups. The aim is to help startups engage in business collaboration with larger enterprises and attract investments from global investors. Last year’s event brought in over 12,000 visitors from around the world.

NextRise 2023 Startup Event

NextRise 2022 had over 2,000 companies and VCs from around the world participating in the event. It will include global companies such as Coca-Cola, Meta, Volkswagon, and Goldman Sachs just to name a few. For 2023, there were feature exhibitions of innovative technologies, conferences, and more business meetups and startup workshops. Korean startups who have succeeded in global markets or have grown into startup unicorns shared their success stories at the event.

Some of the speakers at NextRise in the past (Online/Offline) included:

• Philipp Gneiting – Daimer(Mercedes Benz) Open Innovation Director
• Marco Marinucci – CEO of Mind the Bridge
• Lee Jay-hyun – Managing Director at Goldman Sachs Asia
• Manuel Silva – Innovation Manager at IKEA
• Josemaria Siota – Executive Director at IESE Business School
• Chris Aniszczyk – The Linux Foundation Vice President
• James Monnat – CEO of Foundry Europe
• Eamonn Carey – Director at Techstars London
• Andrew Ekapura – Managing Director at AIP Venture Partners
• Franz Fayot – Luxembourg Minister of Economy
• Anne Lidgard – Sweden Innovation Agency “Vinovva” Director
• Organ Gurel – CTO at the Eidare / Venture Partner at the Yozma Group

You can find their talks and many more on the NextRise YouTube Channel.

“NextRise is an important platform that catalyzes the investment of current assets into the future and innovation…The government will also improve the systems and build the infrastructure to provide full support so that autonomous private investment in venture firms and startups, and the effects made for their growth would settle as a new culture,” said South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun during the meeting of entrepreneurs.

NextRise 2022 Seoul

There were over 100 overseas investors and C-Level representatives from large enterprises. In addition, there will be at least 21 multinational corporations based in Korea present at the event. During the global startup conference, speakers in various fields, such as policies, tech, investment trends, and open innovation strategies, will provide in-depth content. Last year, for example, Managing Director Lee Jay-hyun of Goldman Sachs Asia presented a detailed road map for the scale-up of startups. He advised them to draw investment during their different growth stages, which was highly welcomed by the participants.

1:1 Meetings

KITA screened/arranged meetings between startups and corporations. In terms of 1:1 meetups with corporations, Nextrise is the biggest one in Asia. In addition, there were many chances at the event for startups to have a 1-to-1 meeting with Korean and Global multinational corporations, Fortune 500 companies, Unicorns, and Venture Capitals. Therefore, those looking to work with some of the biggest companies in Korea got an opportunity to sit down with key members from each company.

“Korean startups’ technological competency related to the Fourth Industrial Revoluion is excellent… We plan to invite six startups that we met today to a pitching event to be held at our US headquarters in the fall of this year, ” said the Vice President of Starburst Aerospace, Park Jongwon.

1:1 Matchmaking

NextRise provided participants with the best networking experience possible. The event will offer a 1-to-1 matchmaking service. All that the participants will have to do is fill out the application on the NextRise home page. Participants connected with attendees that matched their needs and will be able to schedule a 1-to-1 meeting with them online. In addition, NextRise will offer startup booths at their offline event. For example for NextRise 2020, Korean startup PiQuant showcased a solution to explore harmful matter by applying a spectroscopic technique at its startup booth exhibit.

“While participating in KITA’s recent global open innovation program, I got to discuss collaboration with large Korean and global enterprises like L’Oreal and Amorepacific… Although the current event lasted for only two days, I met with large Korean and global enterprises and many large investors that I could find many business opportunities. So, it was really beneficial,” said CEO Pi Doyeon of PiQuant.

The global audience will be able to access the NextRise 2022 event through the event’s YouTube channels, where you will find Keynote speeches from influential speakers who are key players in the Global Startup Ecosystem. NextRise is one of the few startup events in Korea that has brought in some key figures in the startup scene to Korea.

Below are some of the speakers from past NextRise events.

Christine Tsai – CEO/Co-Founder at 500 Startups

Christine Tsai is the Partner & Chief Pug Herder at 500 Startups.  Prior to joining 500 Startups, she was in product marketing at Google and YouTube. In addition, she was the lead for Google I/O, Google’s annual developer conference. She also worked on Google AdSense and early-stage video monetization offerings as well as Google Analytics and YouTube syndication. Before life in consumer internet, Christine worked in International Sales at OSIsoft and Refining Central Technologies at ChevronTexaco.

Michael Lints – Partner at Golden Gate Ventures

Michael Lints is Partner at Golden Gate Ventures. Golden Gate Ventures is an early-stage VC firm in Southeast Asia with over 17 investments to date. With offices in Singapore and San Francisco, the firm helps bridge Silicon Valley and Asia through investment, experience, and network. In addition, the firm invests in internet & mobile startups regardless of sector e-commerce to payments, mobile applications to SaaS platforms.

Shengbo Mao – Partner at Panda Capital

Han Kim is the Managing Director and Co-Founder at Altos Ventures, focusing on investments in the areas of software and business services. He also concentrates on companies with significant business in Asia.  He does this by leveraging the firm’s substantial contacts in the region, particularly in Korea. Furthermore, Han currently serves on the board of Blogcocktail, Bluehole, Lohika, OutSpark, Pandora.tv, Provade, Nable Communications, SeeControl, Spicus, and TVU Networks. He works closely with DemandTec and Vesta Corporation. He also led prior investments in Instill (acquired by iTradeNetwork), Digital Market (acquired by Agile Software), Evant (acquired by Manhattan Associates), and iOwn (acquired by Citigroup).

The organizers of the event include:

Korea Development Bank(KDB)

The largest Investment Bank in Korea, KDB was established in 1954.  It has since been financing the development of Korea’s pillar industries through traditional banking services, such as loans and investments. Therefore, in the new era of Industry 4.0, KDB is now a leading incubator & financial supporter of innovations.

Korea International Trade Association(KITA)

KITA was established in 1946 with a view to advancing the Korean economy through trade expansion. It has since grown to become the largest business organization with over 70,000 member firms. In addition, they raise funds by operating COEX, the largest MICE platform in Seoul, and disburse the funds to fulfill our missions to accelerate business growth. Through their Fortune 500 Connect program, 22 top-tier companies found the best-matching startup partners in alignment with their technological interests.

“This year’s NextRise event presented a startup fair model that merged both online and off-line… We will continue to support Korean startups by further diversifying our global testbed program and open innovation meet-ups with global companies, amount others,” said Jo Sang-hyeon, general director of KITA’s Global Startup Acceleration Department.

Korean Venture Capital Association(KVCA)

KVCA was established in 1989 with the objective of representing the Korean venture capital industry and is a member-based organization composed of over 110 venture capital companies in Korea. Its mission is to promote a more favorable system and vibrant investment environment for the development of the venture capital industry. As well as, to enhance awareness and understanding of the importance of venture capital to the Korean economy.

Korean Venture Business Association(KOVA)

KOVA was established in 1995 to revitalize the startup industry by sharing knowledge and management information through exchanges among startups. KOVA also aims to spearhead the protection of the rights and interests of startups in different sectors by compiling the difficulties that they face.

National Research Council of Science & Technology(NST)

NST was established in 1999 to promote government-funded science and technology research institutes. The major goals of NST are to secure research capabilities to lead the country and to foster government-funded research institutes trusted by citizens. In addition, their aim is to establish a researcher-friendly supportive system.

Come and join the NextRise community of passionate thinkers, entrepreneurs, and innovators looking to find out what’s next.