Korea Startup Forum Successfully Hosts 'Busan Slushed 2024' with 1,000 Attendees

Local Startups and Domestic and International Investors Participate
Startup Culture Expansion and Global Exchange Program 진행

The Korea Startup Forum announced on the 26th that the event supporting startups and entrepreneurship, 'Busan Slush'D 2024,' concluded with enthusiastic responses.

On the 25th, 'Busan Slushed 2024' is being held at BEXCO in Busan.
[Photo by Korea Startup Forum]

Held on the 25th at BEXCO in Busan, Busan Slush'D, now in its second year, featured various programs aimed at spreading startup culture and fostering global exchanges to strengthen the self-sustainability of the regional ecosystem. Approximately 1,000 attendees, including local startups, domestic and international investors, and prospective entrepreneurs, participated in the event. Notable visitors included Oh Ki-woong, Vice Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups; Park Hyung-joon, Mayor of Busan Metropolitan City; Kang Seok-hoon, Chairman of KDB Industrial Bank; and Bin Dae-in, Chairman of BNK Financial Group.

This year’s event focused on the keywords of global expansion and student entrepreneurship, featuring presentations and discussions by startups active in the global market, students, and very early-stage entrepreneurs.

In the subsequent IR (Investor Relations) pitching competition for startups from the Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam regions, 15 teams selected through preliminary rounds took the stage. As a result of the judging, in the Youth League for student (prospective) entrepreneurs, 'Ready Space,' a company developing energy harvesting formulas using piezoelectric devices, won first place. In the New Wave League for early-stage startups, 'Lorenthu Company,' a startup producing non-alcoholic beverages based on scent analysis data, took the top prize. In the Global League, 'Eflow,' a company developing micro-mobility engines, was selected as an outstanding company. These three teams will participate in business meetups and exchanges with local stakeholders at Slush'D in Helsinki, Finland, this coming November.

Global exchanges were also conducted with institutional officials from cities hosting overseas Slush'D events and foreign venture capital investors. Lucam Capital (India), Arcade Ventures (Malaysia), Wave Ventures (Sweden), and Helsinki Partners (Finland) visited Korea for this event. They met with student startup teams and local startups to explore cooperation opportunities such as market entry and investment attraction.

Han Sang-woo, Chairman of Kospo, stated, "The Southeast region is the foundation of South Korea’s economic growth and innovation, where first-generation entrepreneurs sparked innovation. We will actively support Busan and the Southeast region to serve as a global startup hub based on the innovative energy of startups."