Like MS and OpenAI... "Startup Nurturing and Open Innovation Are the Answers"

KCCI Hosts the 2nd Startup Forum
Exploring Measures to Revitalize Private Investment
Regular Hosting of 'IR Events' Planned

To revive investment momentum in the domestic venture and startup sectors, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Korea Venture Capital Association, two private economic organizations, joined forces.

On the 30th, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced that it jointly held the '2nd Startup Forum' with the Korea Venture Capital Association (VC Association) at the Chamber of Commerce building in Jung-gu, Seoul. Attendees included Woo Tae-hee, Executive Vice Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Lee Jun-hee, Executive Vice Chairman of the VC Association, and Shin Jin-oh, President of the Korea Venture Startup Society.

This is the second forum following the first one held in March, which highlighted startups leading social problem-solving. At this meeting, stakeholders in the startup ecosystem including large corporations, startups, venture capitalists (VCs), accelerators (ACs), and academic societies all participated to discuss ways to revitalize startup investment at the private sector level. Moving forward, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the VC Association plan to regularly hold IR events to promote investment attraction for ventures and startups.

Woo Tae-hee, Executive Vice President of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, delivering the opening speech at the 'Startup Build-up Forum' held on March 16 at the International Conference Hall of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

President Shin emphasized in his lecture that “Although open innovation is an old management strategy, it is difficult to find examples of collaboration like that between Microsoft (MS) and OpenAI in the U.S. within Korea,” and added, “The most efficient way to activate private investment is open innovation.” He explained, “Large corporations can quickly utilize technologies and services from startups that reflect the latest trends, and startups can establish a foundation for growth through collaboration and investment attraction,” further stating, “Open innovation can serve as a catalyst for the startup ecosystem even without direct financial investment.”

Choi Ye-jin, CEO of DoBrain, a promising startup in the healthcare sector, and Chae Yong-wook, CEO of Lucid Labs, also expressed difficulties in attracting investment and agreed on the importance of collaboration among large corporations, startups, and VCs. CEO Choi said, “Warren Buffett once said, ‘When the tide goes out, you can see who’s been swimming naked.’ I hope that during harsh times, companies that focus on their core essence and dress well will receive active investment.”

Executive Vice Chairman Woo said, “Due to global economic slowdown caused by high inflation and high interest rates, venture investments worldwide are shrinking, and Korea has also seen a continuous decline since the second half of last year,” adding, “We will devise private sector measures to alleviate difficulties related to growth capital procurement, follow-up investment attraction, IPOs, and M&A efforts, even if only slightly.”

Executive Vice Chairman Lee also stated, “With the domestic new venture investment amount significantly decreasing in the first quarter and the investment environment for ventures and startups worsening, cooperation among ecosystem stakeholders and innovative crisis response capabilities are needed,” and expressed hope that “through this forum, VCs, large corporations, and startups will gather to explore various cooperation methods and generate ideas to revitalize private venture investment.”