Seoul City to Recruit 20 Resident Companies for Yeouido 'Seoul Fintech Lab'

Last Year Sales of 70 Billion KRW, 61.7 Billion KRW Investment Attraction... Creation of 725 New Jobs

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 2nd that it will recruit new companies to move into the ‘Seoul Fintech Lab’ by the end of this month and select 20 domestic and international fintech startups.

The Seoul Fintech Lab operates across six floors within WeWork Yeouido Station branch and currently houses 100 fintech startups (77 domestic and 23 overseas).

Companies residing in the ‘Seoul Fintech Lab’ achieved sales of 70 billion KRW and investment attraction of 61.7 billion KRW last year. The number of newly employed personnel exceeded 725. Sales increased by 154% compared to 2019, and the scale of investment attraction doubled. The number of new employees also reached 480% compared to the previous year.

Any domestic or international startup within seven years of establishment that possesses innovative business models or items in the fintech sector can apply for residency. Seoul City has especially expanded opportunities for companies to move in by creating new support fields regardless of sales or investment attraction amounts to lower the entry barriers for innovative companies with growth potential last year.

Once residency is confirmed, companies can receive tailored incubation support according to their growth stage, including independent office space for up to three years. In particular, they can participate in incubating programs through fintech-specialized operators, education and mentoring by experts in each field, IR (investment presentations), networking programs with domestic and international financial institutions, and overseas expansion support programs in countries such as the UK and Singapore.

On the 12th, Seoul City will hold an online business briefing session for pre-registered applicants to address companies’ questions about residency and support programs and provide sufficient information regarding application procedures, schedules, and support details.

Seoul City plans to gradually enhance the financial industry ecosystem by expanding the operation of the International Financial Office, where domestic and international financial institutions are concentrated. Hwang Bo-yeon, Director of Economic Policy, said, “As of March, Seoul ranked 16th overall in the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI), which measures the financial competitiveness of major cities worldwide, but it was ranked 2nd among all cities in future competitiveness. Fintech is an essential technology for financial industry competitiveness and a core strength for Seoul to leap forward as a financial hub. We will support the emergence of unicorn companies that will lead Korea’s financial market and the Asian financial market from the Seoul Fintech Lab.”