COMEUP 2020 – South Korea’s Largest Startup Event Invites Startups For Virtual Pitches

South Korea’s most significant event for startups and small businesses – COMEUP 2020 will be held from November 19 to 21, 2020. The event will be live-streamed to tens of thousands of viewers globally. The objective of the COMEUP 2020 event, organized by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), is to support startups expand globally. The annual event has started accepting applications from startups for the opportunity to present their pitches virtually. The event aims to strengthen the Korean startup ecosystem and to endorse the value of Korea’s global startup ecosystem.

Startups are invited to use this opportunity to connect with leading investors, companies, and government agencies from South Korea and other countries. Startups can also use this as a platform to grow their business in South Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy, and a global leader in ICT, home to tech majors like Samsung, LG, Kakao, and others. 

“International startup conferences are being canceled one by one due to the COVID pandemic. There is a lack of opportunity for startups to attract international investment and go global through networking. In this context, COMEUP will be a silver lining,” said Lee Soonbai, Director of the Startup Policy Division at MSS.

COMEUP was launched in 2019 to promote the Korean startup ecosystem at home and abroad. The event was developed on lines of similar global events. 

COMEUP 2019 witnessed various startup founders, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists from across the globe, getting together to build a global network and sharing their win-win strategies. The various programs, pre-events, main events, side events, that were spread over a three-day schedule witnessed over 2700 visitors, 500 investors, 4000 companies from 58 countries. 

COMEUP is hosted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the Korea Institute of Startup and Entrepreneurship Development (KISED), and the private startup ecosystem, at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul.

Online Pitching Opportunity For Startups From All Over The World

This year, the COMEUP 2020 will hold online pitching sessions for global startups to get an opportunity to showcase their startup to investors and other stakeholders. Promising startups can sign up for the virtual startup pitch from July 24, 2020, to August 23, 2020 (GMT+9). The virtual startup pitch consists of 120 teams in 2 leagues – the Rocket League (84 teams), and the Rookie League (36 teams). The Rookie league will accept applications from startups less than three years old and have raised less than 410K USD investment. The Rocket League will accept applications from growth-stage startups.

The 120 selected startups will receive support in creating their pitching videos, which will be showcased during the event as well as streamed online. The organizers will facilitate meetings between the startups, investors, and media representatives. More than 700 investor firms are expected to attend the event. There will also be an award ceremony based on public votes. 

The Theme Of COMEUP 2020 Is ‘Meet the Future – Post Pandemic, Led by Startups’ 

The three-day event will be held with the theme’ Meet the Future -Post Pandemic, Led by Startups’. COMEUP 2020 will be a hybrid event consisting of 12 sessions based on three focus areas: ‘Social System’, ‘Work’, and ‘Life’. ‘Social system’ will comprise sub-topics of COVID-19, Politics, Digital healthcare, and the environment. ‘Work’ will comprise sub-topics of open innovation, Robotics & AI, remote work, and manufacturing. ‘Life’ will comprise sub-topics of commerce, education, entertainment, and offline retail. 

This year, some of the featured speakers are Chris Lee, CEO, SM Entertainment; Emmanuel LaLagarrigue, Chief Innovation Officer, Schneider Electric; Sophie Kim, CEO, Market Kurly; Saeju Jeong, CEO, Noom; and Henry Chesbrough, professor at UC Berkeley. Investors like Sequoia Capital, Vickers, BAM Ventures, Collaborative Fund, and Grab Ventures are expected to attend as investor mentors. 

HyunWook James Jung, COMEUP Secretary-General, stated, “Our expert-led Organizing Committee consists of functional teams like program planning, operations, and PR. We are doing our best to prepare an online global conference so that practical assistance can be provided to the startups participating. Our objective is to help international and Korean startups gain recognition, networking, and funding opportunities.”  

More information about COMEUP 2020 can be found on the website https://www.kcomeup.com/, where the conference will be live-streamed. 

This startup application mechanism is powered by Korean startup Moaform.