Pohang City held a meeting on the 3rd to promote the sustainable development of the startup ecosystem and to establish a successful startup cultivation system led by the local community.
Pohang City held a meeting to establish a successful region-led startup development system. (5th from the left: Deputy Mayor Kim Nam-il, 6th: Mike Kim, Head of Google Startups Asia Pacific, 7th: Professor Lee Han-jin, Creative Convergence Education Center, Handong Global University)
At the meeting, attended by Vice Mayor Kim Nam-il, Professor Lee Han-jin of Handong Global University’s Creative Convergence Education Center, and others, Mike Kim, a global startup leader and Head of Google for Startup Asia Pacific, was invited to share recent development plans and policy proposals for the startup ecosystem, which is a new growth engine for regional development.
CEO Mike Kim previously worked at LinkedIn, the world’s largest networking platform, and served as Head of Business Development for Baedal Minjok, the leading domestic delivery application. Since 2016, he has been working at Google.
He also oversees Google Campus Seoul, the third such facility worldwide and the first in Asia, which discovers and nurtures innovative startups in the Asia Pacific region and facilitates global startup networking.
During the meeting, discussions were held openly on the roles and support measures of administrative and support organizations, including regulatory improvements and investment expansion for bold and continuous challenges related to the creation of a privately-led “self-sustaining startup ecosystem,” starting with sharing various success know-how of domestic and international startups.
In particular, the meeting actively sought development strategies to revitalize the startup ecosystem by discussing successful industry-academia cooperation models linked and exchanged with global-level startup incubation institutions such as Google Campus Seoul and the recently opened Startup School Busan, as well as regional hub universities like Handong Global University.
CEO Mike Kim stated, “Pohang has the optimal conditions for startup growth based on its innovative industrial ecosystem and R&D infrastructure. Since industry, academia, research, and government are all actively involved in discovering and nurturing startups, I hope that another innovative company like Google or Patagonia will emerge here in Pohang.”
Vice Mayor Kim Nam-il said, “The current global market is dominated and led by startups with excellent technology and innovative capabilities. We will spare no administrative and financial support, such as investment expansion and regulatory exemptions, to ensure that startups grown in the region can thrive not only domestically but also on the global stage.”
CEO Mike Kim also participated as a speaker at the “Startup Innovation Leadership Conference,” hosted by Handong Global University, a platform for exchange between world-class business leaders and future entrepreneurs, introducing the core vision of Google for Startup and providing various networking opportunities to nurture the next generation of startup leaders.
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