Yeouido 'Seoul Fintech Lab' Expansion ... Scaled to Accommodate 1,000 Residents

Recruiting 30 New Tenants Until September 11

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The Seoul Metropolitan Government will expand the fintech specialized space 'Seoul Fintech Lab,' located in Yeouido, to accommodate 1,000 residents by October.

The city plans to increase the usage space of Seoul Fintech Lab at WeWork Yeouido Station from the current 4 floors to 6 floors, expanding the total floor area to 12,000㎡, allowing 100 companies and 1,000 people to be accommodated simultaneously. Currently, 600 people from 70 domestic and international companies are residing there.

These 70 companies generated a total sales revenue of 27.6 billion KRW last year alone and created 125 new jobs. They also succeeded in attracting investments totaling 30.8 billion KRW, and additional demand for residency continues steadily. The city aims to foster the non-face-to-face financial industry and enhance global competitiveness by focusing on excellent companies in the certification and security sectors in the newly expanded space.

The residency target is companies with four or more employees that have raised at least 100 million KRW in investment and have annual sales exceeding 100 million KRW. Selected companies will receive an independent office space for up to two years and benefit from various corporate growth programs tailored to their development stage, including incubation through fintech specialized operators, education and mentoring by field experts, IR (investment presentations), networking with domestic and international financial institutions, and support for overseas expansion.

Applications for residency will be accepted online until 6 p.m. on the 11th of next month. Among the 30 newly admitted companies, five will be selected from overseas. The recruitment announcement can be found on the Seoul Metropolitan Government website.

Kim Ui-seung, Director of Economic Policy, said, "Fintech, a representative sector of the non-face-to-face industry, is a promising future industry that is rapidly growing despite the recession caused by COVID-19. We will focus on nurturing Seoul's promising fintech companies based on new technologies centered on Seoul Fintech Lab, the first of its kind established by a local government, so that they can gain competitiveness in the global market and ultimately contribute to the competitiveness of our financial industry."