[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] KOTRA announced on the 6th that it operated a Korean Pavilion at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) from the 28th of last month (local time) to the 3rd, featuring 28 Korean small and startup companies.
This year's exhibition resumed after about eight months, having been postponed once last year due to the spread of COVID-19. Contrary to some concerns that there would be fewer visitors, a total of about 60,000 people (estimated by the organizer) visited, resulting in a bustling atmosphere throughout the exhibition period.
The exhibition was a great opportunity not only for global large corporations showcasing various new technologies but also for Korean small and startup companies. Especially for Korean companies that had not had face-to-face opportunities with overseas companies for a long time, it was highly meaningful to directly meet key global corporate representatives.
Among the companies participating in the Korean Pavilion, there was concentrated interest in companies related to △metaverse education solutions △geographic information solutions △solutions for the visually impaired △digital security locks. During the four days of the exhibition, Korean Pavilion companies held consultations with about 1,500 businesspeople. Global mobile companies such as Nokia from Finland and Orange from France visited the Korean Pavilion and closely examined the products of Korean small and startup companies.
Digital lock company A used this exhibition as an opportunity to showcase its technology not only to Orange but also to telecommunications companies worldwide, including Vodafone in the UK, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. They achieved the great success of signing multiple Letters of Intent (LOI).
Soccer data analysis solution company B agreed to cooperate on digital fan content (DFC) business with representatives from Valencia, a La Liga club of the Spanish Football Association, during an on-site meeting arranged by KOTRA.
The startup investment IR pitching event hosted by Invest Korea on the 1st was also a highlight of the Korean Pavilion. Above all, about 50 prominent European investors, who are difficult for domestic startups to meet, were invited, including BBVA (fintech), Amadeus (air traffic control), Sacyr (construction and civil engineering), Ferrovial (railway), Repsol (energy), and Acciona (eco-friendly). The event received positive responses from both participating startups and investors.
Additionally, a startup roundtable attended by KOTRA trade center heads from seven European regions?Germany, the UK, France, Spain, Austria, Finland, and Sweden?was held. Organic semiconductor startup C said, “Through a Q&A session with the European trade center heads, we were able to resolve many questions about the European market,” and added, “We hope that a regular exchange platform will continue to be provided to inform domestic startups about overseas business opportunities.”
Youngjoo Ahn, head of KOTRA Madrid Trade Center, said, “The innovative technologies presented by our companies at MWC, the world's largest mobile device exhibition, received a good response,” and added, “We will continue to provide support even after the exhibition ends so that our companies can achieve tangible results.”
KOTRA plans to support follow-up consultations with buyers and investors after the exhibition period. In addition, among the 84 companies in the integrated Korean Pavilion, 10 companies with innovative products that received favorable responses from visitors will be selected to operate an MWC Innovation Product Experience Center. The experience center will be held for nine days from the 2nd to the 10th of next month at Lotte Hi-Mart World Tower branch.
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