Founding General Meeting of Startup Control Tower 'Busan Technology Startup Investment Center' Held

Adoption of 'Changtuwon' Establishment Purpose Document at City Hall on the 3rd at 9:20 AM - Review and Resolution of Articles of Incorporation (Draft) Scheduled

Mayor Park Hyung-jun: "Building Busan's Future Startup Environment, Exemplary Startup Ecosystem through Innovation and Effort"

Busan City will hold a founding general meeting on the 3rd to ensure the successful launch of the Busan Technology Startup Investment Foundation.

The general meeting will be held at 9:20 a.m. on the 3rd in the conference room on the 7th floor of City Hall. The meeting will be attended by the Deputy Mayor of Busan, the Chair of the City Council’s Planning and Finance Committee, the President of the Busan Economic Promotion Agency, and the Director of the Busan Center for Creative Economy and Innovation, who will adopt the founding purpose statement of the ‘Changtuwon’ and review and approve the draft articles of incorporation.

The founding general meeting is composed of representatives from institutions that directly contributed to the establishment of Changtuwon, including the City Council (Chair of the Planning and Finance Committee Seong Chang-yong), the Busan Economic Promotion Agency (President Song Bok-cheol), and the Busan Center for Creative Economy and Innovation (Director Kim Yong-woo).

After consultations with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety in September this year, the City Council passed an ordinance on the 22nd of last month to support the establishment and operation of the ‘Busan Technology Startup Investment Foundation,’ laying the groundwork for the establishment of Changtuwon.

The City Council requested expanding the target users of Changtuwon to support various entrepreneurs, including those in newly emerging convergence industries such as ‘technology startups.’ The city plans to actively reflect the City Council’s opinions and properly establish Changtuwon as the startup command center (control tower).

The city plans to establish Changtuwon as a core institution leading Busan’s innovative growth by integrating the startup support functions of local public institutions to create a one-stop startup support system, linking Busan’s financial hub with venture investments to revitalize the local capital market, and building a ‘global startup hub’ where domestic and international startups and investors can interact frequently.

In December, the city will form an executive recommendation committee and announce the recruitment of candidates for executives, including the foundation’s representative. By January next year (2025), the selection of executives will be completed to form the Changtuwon board of directors, and the foundation will be legally established and begin operations in February.

Changtuwon will consist of five teams: ▲ Innovation Startup Team ▲ Growth Foundation Team ▲ Fund Investment Team ▲ Global Investment Team ▲ Management Support Team.

The foundation will launch with 35 full-time executives and staff, including the full-time president. The size is expected to expand to 55 in the future. In addition to transferring employees from existing startup support organizations to Changtuwon, the foundation plans to sequentially hire experienced and new staff as needed.

Mayor Park Hyung-jun said, “Starting with this founding general meeting, the Busan Technology Startup Investment Foundation will officially launch toward making Busan the ‘Startup City of Asia,’ taking the first step to upgrade the local startup ecosystem.” He added, “Changtuwon will serve as the central hub of the local startup ecosystem, collaborating with various stakeholders such as universities and companies to build a startup environment for Busan’s future. Through this launch, our city will continue relentless innovation and efforts to ensure that Changtuwon becomes a model case for the national startup ecosystem beyond Busan.”