Seoul City Fosters Startups Leading the 'Post-Corona' Era

Ranked 20th in This Year's Global Startup Ecosystem Survey
1.9 Trillion Won Invested Over 4 Years for Tech Talent Development
10 Billion Won for Comprehensive COVID-19 Crisis Support Measures
115 Billion Won Support for Startup-Dedicated Fund

Seoul Startup Hub Seongsu, which opened in July, is a hub space that focuses on discovering and nurturing tech startups that solve urban problems and pursue social value creation and business growth.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The global startup ecosystem analysis organization 'Startup Genome' ranked Seoul 20th in its annual city startup ecosystem survey. This is the highest ranking since 2017, when Seoul was first included in the survey. The value of Seoul's startup ecosystem is estimated at $39 billion (approximately 47 trillion KRW). Startup Genome particularly highlighted Seoul's startup scale-up policies, the 1.2 trillion KRW innovation growth fund, and tailored full-cycle support for new startups, evaluating Seoul as an "attractive city for entrepreneurs."

Since last year, Seoul has been pursuing a plan to invest a total of 1.9 trillion KRW over four years, aiming to become a "Global Top 5 Startup City." This includes nurturing 10,000 tech talents across Seoul areas such as Yangjae and Hongneung and expanding tech startup spaces to over 2,200 locations. The city plans to encourage anyone with innovative ideas and technology to fearlessly challenge entrepreneurship, boldly invest in new technologies to continuously supply previously unseen startups, and support innovative companies originating in Seoul to expand into global markets, thereby transforming the economic structure of Seoul. The number of city-supported startup facilities has increased from just 17 in 2012 to 44 currently, and over the past eight years, Seoul has supported more than 10,000 startups.

However, due to the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) this year, the domestic and international economies have suffered significant damage, and the startup ecosystem is also facing a major crisis. Startups that were just beginning to sprout are now at risk of survival amid months of declining sales and delayed investments, creating uncertainty. In response, Seoul has introduced a comprehensive package support plan (10 billion KRW) to promote the growth of promising startups and will temporarily support startup payroll expenses (50 billion KRW). Additionally, through a dedicated startup fund (115 billion KRW), Seoul is making proactive investments to ensure that startups with excellent technology do not fail prematurely.

Among the promising startups that have grown into global companies through various Seoul city supports are many firms attracting attention in the post-COVID-19 era, including those in bio-medical, artificial intelligence (AI), and contactless (untact) industries, presenting new paradigms.

Shin Jong-woo, Director of Economic and Job Planning at Seoul City, said, "Seoul has continuously invested in startups leading future industries over the past eight years, and recently, the value of Seoul's startup ecosystem has begun to be recognized globally, showing the fruits of our efforts. We will do our best to implement active and meticulous policies to ensure that Seoul's startup environment does not regress due to COVID-19."