Future-Leading 'Siljeung City Gwangju' Startup Festival

Kim Dae-jung Center on 28-29th... 240 Startups Participating
Proof Village & Q&A Zone Operated with Investment IR

Poster for the '2024 Gwangju Startup Festival' to be held at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center on the 28th and 29th. Provided by Gwangju City

Gwangju City announced on the 25th that it will host the ‘2024 Gwangju Startup Festival (GJSF 2024)’ at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center from the 28th to 29th, with participation from 240 startups, 270 investment firms, and 14 large and medium-sized domestic and international companies.

This year’s Startup Festival, themed ‘Gwangju, the City of Demonstration,’ will feature a total of six event categories: ▲Opening Ceremony ▲Exhibitions and Experiences ▲Conferences and Forums ▲Investment Attraction IR ▲Meetups and Networking ▲Side Events.

At the opening ceremony on the 28th, a performance will be presented together with SC Creative Co., Ltd., which won the grand prize in this year’s Startup Product Demonstration Competition for its ‘Extended Reality-based Immersive Content.’ Startups, large and medium-sized companies, and investors will pledge mutual growth in ‘Gwangju, the City of Demonstration’ through a cooperation ceremony.

Visitors can explore exhibition halls featuring 170 startups, 16 large and medium-sized companies, and 6 startup-related organizations. Notably, this year introduces the ‘Demonstration Village,’ where attendees can experience 25 demonstration products participating in the startup product demonstration support project. At the Demonstration Village, visitors can directly try products currently being demonstrated throughout Gwangju, and guided tours will be provided during the event.

The city will operate a ‘Demonstration Q&A Center’ to provide information on the demonstration support project and plans to facilitate matching between demand organizations and companies wishing to receive demonstration support through a preliminary demand survey.

A talk concert on the theme of ‘Future Directions in the Age of Artificial Intelligence’ will be held, featuring Song Gil-young, Vice President of Daumsoft and a well-known big data expert in Korea.

A conference discussing the revitalization of the local startup ecosystem will also take place. The conference will cover ▲Sharing Gwangju’s demonstration achievements and future directions with demonstration field experts ▲Growth and support in the region with participation from local unicorn companies ▲Growth story of Baek Seung-wook, Chairman of the medical AI company Lunit, and the world transformed by AI ▲Innovative proposals and dialogues from startups in the metropolitan area.

In particular, demand organizations and investors will be invited to meet startups exhibiting their products directly. Additionally, programs supporting startup growth and leap include six investment attraction IR events such as the ‘Demonstration Technical Tour’ supporting market expansion, global startup investment attraction IR, and the Industrial Bank of Korea’s Next Round.

For (prospective) entrepreneurs seeking to acquire technology from local research institutions, opportunities for ‘Startup Item Technology Transfer’ will be provided, and university team startup items will be showcased through the ‘University Alliance Startup Competition.’

This year’s Startup Festival has moved beyond a one-time event by conducting 14 pre-networking events with domestic and international startup ecosystems since February. Participants included domestic and international large and medium-sized companies such as Startup Autobahn Korea, IBK Changgong, Samsung C-Lab, Hoban Group, Hyosung, Bionsee Innovator, DH Global, Howon, and Optonics.

Gwangju Mayor Kang Gi-jung said, “This year’s Startup Festival will be an opportunity for companies, investors, and institutions to come together, cooperate, and communicate for ‘Gwangju, the City of Demonstration Leading the Future.’ We will spare no support to attract startups with excellent innovative technologies to Gwangju and help them grow sustainably and take root in the local economy.”

For more details, visit the official Gwangju Startup Festival website. Online pre-registration is available until the 27th.