Korea's biggest start-up event to become private-led event
Published: 18 Oct. 2022, 16:38
![From left: Jake Park, Socar CEO and chairman of the Korea Startup Forum (KSF); Lee Young, Minister of SMEs and Startups (MSS) and Choi Sung-jin, KSF CEO, during a press briefing on ComeUp 2022 held on Tuesday in Gangnam District, southern Seoul [MSS]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2022/10/18/89910050-5681-4f86-99d7-dcff2dfe5119.jpg)
From left: Jake Park, Socar CEO and chairman of the Korea Startup Forum (KSF); Lee Young, Minister of SMEs and Startups (MSS) and Choi Sung-jin, KSF CEO, during a press briefing on ComeUp 2022 held on Tuesday in Gangnam District, southern Seoul [MSS]
The government-led ComeUp festival, the biggest start-up event in Korea, will be organized by a private organization starting this year.
The move is part of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s effort to bring in more private participation to boost the start-up sector amid a slowdown in the venture scene, said the start-up minister.
“Beginning this year, the ComeUp festival is taking a significant turn to become a private-led event,” said Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee Young during a press briefing held in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, Tuesday.
Marking its fourth edition this year, the annual ComeUp festival has been organized and hosted by the start-up ministry until now.
Though the ministry will remains as the host and fund the event, the Korea Startup Forum — which consists of some 2,000 companies — will be the organizers from this year. The ministry plans to continue funding the ComeUp festival for the next three years, but will gradually pull off from the event. The goal is to make the event independent from government support in five years.
The ministry and Korea Startup Forum hope to make the ComeUp event one of the five most well-known start-up events in the world by 2027, like Finland’s Slush, the biggest start-up conference in the region.
“There has been a lot going on in the start-up eco-system this year,” said Jake Park, Socar CEO and chairman of Korea Startup Forum, citing the global economic crisis and slowdown in venture capital activities. “We will do our best to present the voices of founders, investors and global companies over such issues in the ComeUp 2022.”
The three-day ComeUp 2022 will be held at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Dongdaemun District, eastern Seoul, from Nov. 9, and be attended by start-ups and investors from 15 countries.
BY SHIN HA-NEE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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