Gwanak-gu and Seoul National University to Create the 'Silicon Valley of Korea'

Gwanak-gu and Seoul National University Selected for the ‘2024 Seoul Campus Town Project’

Selected for the second consecutive time following the ‘2020 Seoul City Campus Town Comprehensive Project’

Operation of venture startup company development and regional coexistence programs through public-private-academic cooperation

Expected to become a startup hub with up to 4.5 billion KRW of city funds invested over three years

Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Jun-hee), together with Seoul National University, was finally selected in the ‘2024 Seoul Campus Town Project’ competition and will receive up to 4.5 billion KRW in project funds from Seoul City over three years.

The ‘Campus Town Project’ is a program aimed at creating youth jobs by discovering and nurturing prospective and early-stage startups, utilizing the human and material resources of universities, and enhancing regional vitality through cooperation among autonomous districts.

Among the 12 major universities in Seoul participating in this competition, Seoul National University proposed a project to foster global deep tech innovation companies leading the ‘Global Top 5 Startup City Seoul,’ achieving the remarkable feat of being selected for the second consecutive time since 2020.

As a result, the district has gained momentum to continuously promote venture and startup policies, and in addition to the Campus Town Project, it will further develop the ‘Gwanak S Valley’ project, which has been a key focus since the 7th local government administration to build an innovative economy.

In addition to the 4.5 billion KRW secured through this selection, the district plans to invest additional funds from its budget and Seoul National University’s development fund to promote ‘Seoul National University Campus Town 2.0,’ vigorously pursuing various goals (▲ securing 20 global collaboration partners ▲ attracting 120 billion KRW in global deep tech investments ▲ nurturing 60 global deep tech growth companies ▲ engaging 4,000 participants in regional revitalization programs).

To this end, the project will establish ▲ a selection process for resident companies focused on deep tech ▲ the SNU 4S (Stand-up, Start-up, Scale-up, Successful exit) startup support model ▲ strengthened support for growing and graduated companies ▲ R&D commercialization and marketing support ▲ and advancement of global expansion programs to nurture startups. It will also promote on-campus startup activation through ▲ startup-friendly academic and personnel systems ▲ laboratory startups ▲ and support for on-campus startup clubs.

Additionally, the project will operate ▲ entrepreneurship career mentoring and engineering camps for elementary, middle, and high school students ▲ a ‘lifecycle regional startup talent development program’ including deep tech expert employment and startup special lectures ▲ venture company employment support programs ▲ and expand investments in the Gwanak S Valley Fund to help startups settle in the region, thereby revitalizing local commercial districts through increased daytime population.

Since launching the ‘Seoul National University OSCAR Gwanak Campus Town’ project in 2020, Gwanak-gu and Seoul National University have established five startup infrastructure sites and nurtured 73 companies to date.

Supported by various assistance from the district and Seoul National University, these companies have achieved a cumulative investment attraction of 104.7 billion KRW and sales of 18.3 billion KRW, securing licensing agreements with IBM USA and attracting overseas investments worth 21 billion KRW (Cryptolab), establishing a corporation at UCLA Medical Center (Genialogy), selection for the Amazon AWS Startup Program (AnyAI), and winning the CES 2022 Best Innovation Award (Petnow), among other outstanding achievements.

The district plans to continue its full efforts to create a sustainable startup ecosystem through ongoing performance management according to project goals, helping Gwanak-gu shed its image as a bed town and transform into a world-class startup city.

Mayor Park Jun-hee expressed his ambition, stating, “Just as the 6,000 startups founded by Stanford University alumni created today’s Silicon Valley, Gwanak-gu will join forces with Seoul National University to make Gwanak-gu the undisputed Silicon Valley of Korea.”