Seoul Investment Agency Selects 'CORE 100' as Key to Seoul Investment Attraction... Announces First List of 38 Companies

Selection of Companies with Innovative Technologies in New Industries such as AI, Bio·Healthcare, and Fintech

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Invest Seoul, the dedicated foreign investment attraction agency of Seoul City, announced on the 19th the list of 38 companies selected in the first round of the ‘CORE 100’, which selects 100 startups with competitive overseas investment attraction capabilities in industries such as bio and fintech.

Invest Seoul CORE 100 plans to select 100 companies this year. Global investors with expertise in industry-specific technologies and investment professionalism comprehensively review factors such as readiness for overseas expansion, target market suitability, and growth potential to make their selections. The selected companies possess core technologies in fields such as AI, bio & healthcare, fintech & blockchain, information and communication, robotics, fashion, and media content, and vary in growth stages and sizes from seed stage to pre-IPO companies.

Invest Seoul provides these companies with one-stop customized overseas investment attraction support and plans to brand them as representative promising investment companies of Invest Seoul. Additionally, it will offer continuous matching with global investment institutions to expand tailored contact opportunities with overseas investors. For companies needing investment attraction marketing materials, support is provided for producing English fact sheets, English IR pitching decks, and promotional videos to maximize investment appeal to overseas investors.

In particular, companies selected as CORE 100, recognized as ‘promising startups’ by Seoul City, can participate preferentially in major overseas regional startup conferences and investment briefing sessions (IR) operated by Invest Seoul. Invest Seoul has established a continuous cooperation system with local global partners in the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East to increase the likelihood of successful overseas investment for Seoul companies.

Following the selection of 38 CORE 100 companies in the first recruitment, Invest Seoul plans to conduct a second recruitment in the second half of the year to additionally select innovative companies in fields sought by global investors.

Goo Bon-hee, head of Invest Seoul, said, “Through Invest Seoul CORE 100, we provide essential customized services to companies hoping to attract overseas investment from the investment exploration stage to investment decision and completion, and follow-up support stages,” adding, “We will spare no effort to support Seoul’s promising companies both materially and spiritually so that they can achieve tangible overseas investment attraction results.”