[Report] Crowded 'ComeUp 2024'... "We Seized Collaboration Opportunities with Global Startups"

Global Startup Festival 'ComeUp 2024'
Largest Domestic Startup Festival Held on 11-12
Over 260 Startups from 45 Countries Participate

"We have decided to discuss collaboration with large corporations. This is an incredibly big opportunity for us." On the 12th, at the 'ComeUp 2024' event held at COEX in Seoul, Byeon Moon-jeong, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of SoSerix, spoke with an excited expression. SoSerix, an artificial intelligence (AI) startup, is a company developing 'ambient computing' technology, where smart devices operate autonomously without direct commands or intervention from users. COO Byeon said, "During the two days of the ComeUp event, many investors and representatives from domestic large corporations visited our booth and showed great interest, providing us with an opportunity to realize our potential."

The scene at the COEX event venue where Korea's largest startup festival, 'ComeUp 2024,' was held. Provided by the Korea Startup Promotion Agency.

ComeUp, the largest startup festival in Korea, was held over two days from the 11th to the 12th. Since its inception in 2019, this was the 6th edition of ComeUp, held under the theme 'Innovation Beyond Boundaries.' The event featured exhibition booths from about 260 startups from 45 countries. Among them, overseas startups accounted for more than half, making it the largest scale ever in terms of participation.

As a global event, the ComeUp venue saw a continuous flow of visitors over the two days. Representatives from Middle Eastern startups wearing hijabs, global venture capitalists (VCs), and large corporation officials gathered in one place to see the technologies of innovative startups from home and abroad. In the center of the vast exhibition hall, drones flew around. Amid the crowd, humanoid robots walked around and even shook hands with visitors.

The scene at the 'ComeUp 2024' event held at COEX on the 11th. Photo by Lee Seung-jin

The participating startups covered diverse fields such as AI, advanced robotics, healthcare, and climate tech. Among these, AI and healthcare attracted the most attention from visitors. In the case of healthcare, it was reported that many large corporation representatives visited to consider using the services for their own welfare programs.

A VC representative based in Singapore said, "AI is a field that every country worldwide is interested in, and there is high interest in the technological capabilities of Korean startups." He added, "We have held meetings with several companies and are considering investments."

There was also a steady stream of visitors to the national pavilions from countries such as the UAE (United Arab Emirates), India, Japan, and Sweden. Especially, many startup representatives seeking global expansion through collaboration with these countries visited the booths. One startup representative said, "We thought it would be difficult to expand globally on our own, so we came to the event to explore cooperation plans with overseas startups." He added, "In particular, we had many discussions with UAE startup representatives to enter the Middle Eastern market."

On the 12th, a UAE startup official is having a conversation at the 'ComeUp 2024' event at COEX. Photo by Lee Seungjin

This year's ComeUp was organized with a variety of events beyond the exhibition booths. The conference program called 'Future Talk' introduced a new 'Beginner' track aimed at the general public to broaden understanding of startups through separate sessions. Each conference attracted 40 to 50 attendees, and there were scenes of free exchanges of opinions between speakers and the audience. Additionally, IR pitching and global community networking events were held simultaneously.

Over the past six years at ComeUp, 2,334 investments have been made, accumulating a total investment amount of 168.1 billion KRW. This year, with the largest scale ever and the participation of a large number of overseas startups, the event has grown into a global startup festival, and the organizers expect even greater achievements to be recorded. This year's ComeUp business matching platform, 'On the ComeUp,' connected startups and investors both online and offline, achieving a total of about 1,900 business matches. This is double the record of last year.

Oh Young-joo, Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "The ideas and technologies of startups are catalysts for innovation that shape not only national development but also the future of humanity." She added, "We will support Korea to play a central role in the global startup ecosystem going forward."