[Asia Economy Reporter Su-yeon Woo] The Korea International Trade Association (KITA) announced on the 17th that it held the final presentation of the "Korea-Arab Startup Idea Contest" on the 15th at the COEX Startup Branch in collaboration with the Korea-Arab Society (KAS).
This contest, held for the first time this year, targeted domestic startups aiming to enter the Arab region as well as Arab youth startups and prospective entrepreneurs residing in Korea. A total of 37 teams applied for the startup category and 42 teams for the idea category. After document screening, 10 teams (5 teams per category) were selected to present on the final day.
The event was attended by Koo Ja-yeol, Chairman of KITA and Chairman of KAS, Badr Alawadi, Ambassador of Kuwait to Korea and Dean of the Arab Diplomatic Corps in Korea, as well as other Arab country ambassadors in Korea, who presented the awards.
At the final presentation of the 'Korea-Arab Startup Idea Contest' held on the 15th at COEX Startup Branch, jointly organized by the Korea International Trade Association and the Korea-Arab Society (KAS), Koo Ja-yeol, Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association, delivered the welcome address. Photo by Korea International Trade Association
The first prize in the startup category was awarded to "Collective." Collective proposed a K-beauty e-commerce platform that produces K-beauty content in Arabic and provides curation services targeting local consumers. It received high evaluations for its strong business potential based on a deep understanding of the Arab market. The second prize went to P&People Planning, and the third prize to Lonely Night. P&People Planning introduced "K Shopina," an online commerce platform for authentic K-brands targeting eight Middle Eastern countries, while Lonely Night proposed "Click," an Arab K-pop fandom platform.
The first prize in the idea category was awarded to the "KALU" team. KALU proposed a Korean language education and Korea-Arab social networking application service utilizing the metaverse. The team was highly evaluated for its execution capability in actual service implementation and the competitiveness of its differentiated idea using the metaverse. The second prize went to the ThreeND team, and the third prize to the Yarab team. ThreeND introduced a smart online platform for used car parts, and Yarab proposed an online application platform for Korean cosmetics.
The winning teams will receive startup support funds of up to 20 million KRW, support for participation in the Dubai Expo, and mentoring on business growth strategies. In particular, the first prize winner in the startup category will be additionally granted the opportunity to exhibit and present at "NextRise 2022," a comprehensive startup expo co-hosted by KITA and the Korea Development Bank.
Lee Dong-gi, Head of the Innovation Growth Division at KITA, said, "We hope this contest will serve as a cornerstone for creating a startup ecosystem specialized for the Arab market, and that many Korean companies attracting attention in the Arab market will emerge in the future."
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