Sejong City Hosts Nationwide Startup Network Event 'Startup Festival'

Over 150 Startup Entrepreneurs from Across the Country to Participate

Clockwise: Sangwoo Han, Chairman of Korea Startup Forum; Minho Choi, Mayor; and Jindong Kim, Chairman of Sejong Chamber of Commerce, signed an agreement on the 6th. / Photo by Economic Policy Department

The 2025 Startup Festival, co-hosted and organized by Sejong City, the Sejong Center for Creative Economy & Innovation, and the Korea Startup Forum, will be held under the theme "Sejong, the Gov-Tech Startup Hub in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (AI)."

The 2025 Startup Festival, taking place over two days starting on the 6th at the Academic and Cultural Support Center of the Sejong Joint Campus in Jiphyeon-dong, is the first nationwide event of its kind. It aims to bring together startup networks from across the country to Sejong, strengthen the foundation of the startup ecosystem, and propel the city toward becoming a hub for startups in new technologies.

In particular, the event focuses on leveraging Sejong’s strengths as a city with a high concentration of government and national research institutes, as well as its smart city infrastructure, to spread AI-integrated Gov-Tech startup models based on public data resources.

At the opening ceremony, Sejong City, the Korea Startup Forum, and the Sejong Chamber of Commerce and Industry signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to foster the startup and venture ecosystem in Sejong. According to officials, this agreement is expected to serve as a starting point for public-private cooperation in building a Sejong-style startup support model, including discovering and nurturing local startups, expanding infrastructure, and promoting open innovation.

In addition, agreements will be signed with five promising companies seeking to collaborate with Sejong City: Booster Lab (Seoul), Sky Cube (Busan), Maeot (Changwon, Gyeongnam), Wheelchair (Busan), and Dodohan Collabo (Seoul). These companies plan to pursue various joint projects, such as startup support, linking innovation policies, and expanding globally.

On the second day, interactive programs focused on networking and well-being for entrepreneurs will take place, including a Vibe Coding workshop, discussion sessions for sharing experiences among founders, investment presentations by promising Sejong-based companies, and collaboration proposal sessions with large and mid-sized enterprises.

Mayor Minho Choi stated, "As Sejong establishes itself as an advanced city and completes its role as the administrative capital, we will actively support startups so that creative ideas can be realized. By actively supporting Gov-Tech startups that combine public data and technology, we will build Sejong into a city of creativity and challenge that leads the innovation economy."