‍

While Silicon Valley is synonymous with innovation and entrepreneurship, it’s not the only part of the world delivering life-altering, industry-disrupting ideas, products and services. Located in Seoul and built-in 2015, Pangyo Techno Valley is a thriving startup hub that has attracted the attention of investors, accelerators and incubators from all around the world. The local investment made in building up this startup ecosystem has led to Korea being the home of 11 unicorns, which currently ranks it 4th in the world.

Along with supporting local startups, Korea is also investing heavily in helping foreign startups make a footprint in the region. Suel A Kim, the founder of Kurly (a Korean startup that operates a grocery delivery service in Korea), highlights two key reasons why the Korean market is perfect for foreign startups, “One, because of the sheer size of the market (sixth largest in the world) and two, because customers are so willing to provide feedback”.

‍

According to ANZ’s 2018 Asia Opportunity Report, Australian businesses could gain approximately $400 billion in additional revenue to flow into their Australian operations if they make plans to operate in Asia. Australian startups looking to grow and enter the Asian market need to look no further than the K Startup Grand Challenge. First launched in 2016, the K-Startup Grand Challenge is a startup inbounding program organized and financed by the Korean government. The objectives of the program are to promote the expansion of an open entrepreneurship ecosystem in Asia and to assist in South Korea’s evolution into a prominent startup business hub in the region. Over the last three years the program has:

• Helped 89 foreign startups establish in Korea
• Facilitated the investment of over USD 1.2 billion into startups 
• Supported startups in developing 881 partnerships
• Connected startups with major Korean companies, SMEs, Startups and VCs, resulting in 906 business meetings

‍