526 Startups and Investment Firms with 4,500 Participants
New Initiatives Catch Attention Including Siljeongvilleez and Siljeong Q&A Hall
Gwangju Mayor Kang Ki-jung attended the '2024 Gwangju Startup Festival' held at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center in Seo-gu on the afternoon of the 28th last month, touring the exhibition hall with guests. Provided by Gwangju City
Gwangju City, ambitiously promoting the 'Gwangju Startup Festival' to realize Gwangju as an opportunity city with a high startup success rate, achieved a total investment attraction of 52 billion KRW for local startup companies (seed companies). Notably, this startup festival attracted 240 startup companies (seed companies) and 270 investors, gaining attention as the largest 'proof-of-concept focused startup event' in Korea.
Gwangju City announced on the 5th that over 4,500 people participated in the '2024 Gwangju Startup Festival' held at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center on the 28th and 29th of last month, marking the largest scale ever.
Through approximately 600 business matching consultation sessions, 35 local startup companies secured investment worth 52 billion KRW from investors, the city added.
These achievements are expected to provide opportunities for local seed companies to overcome the regional limitations of poor investment conditions and freely showcase their technologies and ideas.
AI platform company Vesl AI signed an investment agreement worth 15.8 billion KRW with investors including Aventures, creating a stepping stone for global market entry. Space B Vision AI and investors such as Vine Ventures signed a 4 billion KRW investment agreement to expand their AI digital advertising business sector. CIS Chemical, STH, and Recell signed large-scale letters of intent for investment worth 32.2 billion KRW from domestic and international investors.
The city continuously supported the sharing of information about companies and connected interested startup companies and investors through 14 pre-events held before the festival, enabling direct meetings and successful outcomes at the startup festival.
The 2024 Gwangju Startup Festival attracted attention by newly attempting 'proof-of-concept.'
Starting with the opening ceremony that presented the vision of 'Proof-of-Concept City Gwangju' and pledged co-growth of the startup ecosystem, the festival provided opportunities to promote 'Proof-of-Concept City Gwangju' nationwide through ▲‘Proof-of-Concept Village,’ where visitors could directly experience 25 proof-of-concept products across Gwangju ▲‘Proof-of-Concept Technical Tour,’ where demand institutions and investors met participating companies directly ▲and the operation of the ‘Proof-of-Concept Q&A Hall,’ collaborating with institutions capable of conducting next year’s proof-of-concept demand surveys and providing venues.
The open innovation exhibition hall for large and medium-sized enterprises featured 16 domestic and international large and medium-sized companies including Samsung C-Lab, IBK Changgong, Korea Development Bank, Hoban Group, SK Telecom, HD Hyundai Samho, Bion C Innovator, DH Global, and Howon, attracting great popularity among visitors. In particular, these large and medium-sized companies agreed to proceed with 55 cases of technology transfer and follow-up investments with startup companies, opening the possibility of practical cooperation.
Joo Jae-hee, Director of the Economic Startup Bureau, said, “This year’s Gwangju Startup Festival continuously held matching events between startup companies, large corporations, and investors in advance,” adding, “We plan to develop Gwangju into a city that attracts startups and a city of inclusion for proof-of-concept.”
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
