Even with Sky Routes Blocked, 'K-Startup' Expands Overseas

Global Market Expansion Based on Partnerships with Global Companies, Technology, and Know-How

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] Despite the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), domestic startups are accelerating their growth by targeting overseas markets. They are showing good results on the global stage based on differentiated competitiveness such as proprietary technology and partnerships with global companies.

Milk Partners, which operates the integrated point platform 'Milk,' recently signed a partnership for strategic business cooperation with Travala.com, the world's largest blockchain-based online travel agency. Travala.com collaborates with global travel platforms such as Agoda, Expedia, and Booking.com, offering reservations for over 2.2 million accommodations and more than 600 airlines across 90,000 destinations in 230 countries worldwide. It supports payment services using various digital assets at the time of booking. Through the partnership with Travala.com, Milk Partners plans to prioritize marketing to expand customer touchpoints. In the future, they plan to enhance services so that the reservation services provided by Travala.com can also be used by utilizing 'Milk Coin (MLK)'.

Class101, an online lecture platform, is successfully entering overseas markets such as the United States and Japan, evolving into a global service. They are sequentially opening not only popular domestic classes translated into the languages of each country but also classes by local creators. The fact that it is an online class that even provides the necessary materials for the course is cited as a key factor for popularity in the global market. As interest in overseas classes grows, Class101 in Korea has launched 'Global Classes,' allowing users to enjoy popular classes from the US and Japan with Korean subtitles. It is growing into a differentiated global online class platform where anyone can take desired classes anytime and anywhere beyond national and language boundaries.

At SLUSH 2020, Finland's largest startup conference in Europe, a 'K-Startup Pavilion' was established. SLUSH, which started in 2008, is Europe's representative startup event where startups and investors from around the world gather, and this year it is held entirely online due to the spread of COVID-19. Forty domestic startups selected through five support organizations including the Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development and Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy & Innovation are participating in this K-Startup Pavilion, which gathers domestic startups in one place. The startups created individual online booths within the K-Startup Pavilion in the online exhibition hall operated by SLUSH, posting digital content such as company introductions and videos. Through this, it is expected to be an opportunity for companies to showcase their high-level innovative technologies to the world and further network with buyers and venture capitalists to attract investment.