Nowon-gu Hosts the 1st Startup Entrepreneurship Expo

Providing Opportunities for Exchange Among Startup Founders, Potential Investors, Partners, and Mentors to Lay the Foundation for Startup Growth
Promoting Innovative Technologies and Items of Local Startups, Encouraging Interest and Participation in Startup Culture
Held on December 20 from 1 PM to 5 PM at Nowon-gu Office 2nd Floor Auditorium

Nowon-gu, Seoul (District Mayor Oh Seung-rok) announced that it will hold the "1st Startup Entrepreneurship Expo" in collaboration with Induk University (President Kim Kwang-man) to establish a sustainable startup ecosystem.

According to the '2023 Startup Difficulties Status and Policy Tasks' survey recently released by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 4 out of 10 startups responded that "the business environment has worsened compared to last year."

The biggest obstacles cited were ▲funding issues (41.3%) ▲cost increases due to rising prices (38.2%) ▲labor shortages (22.0%) ▲difficulty securing domestic and international sales channels (18.1%).

In response, Nowon-gu prepared the entrepreneurship expo to help early-stage startups stabilize in the market. It will be held on December 20 at 1 p.m. in the main auditorium on the 2nd floor of Nowon-gu Office.

First, as a pre-event, the Startup IN Competition will be held from 10 a.m. to provide prospective entrepreneurs with opportunities for challenge and achievement. Pre-registered prospective entrepreneurs will promote their ideas and products and receive evaluations from experts of related startup organizations. Four teams selected as finalists will receive certificates and prize money.

The main event of the expo is the IR Demo Day, where startups introduce their products or services to investors, present their business directions, and gain opportunities for investment, promotion, and feedback.

The district recruited startups in the region in advance and selected 10 companies through expert document review on November 28. The selected companies received IR pitching training and advanced their IR Decks (investment proposals) with the support of dedicated mentors.

On the day of the expo, each company will give a 15-minute IR presentation followed by a Q&A session. Through evaluation by five experts, four companies will be selected and awarded a total of 4 million KRW in prize money.

One-on-one startup consultations and investor connection programs will also be conducted. Entrepreneurs can concretize their business directions through professional feedback and increase the possibility of actual investment attraction by meeting potential investors.

Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon-gu, said, "Entrepreneurship is an important driving force that breathes new vitality into the local economy," adding, "We will do our best to create a sustainable startup ecosystem where entrepreneurs and potential investors can discover each other's potential and collaborate."