Against the backdrop of canceled international conferences and lost opportunities for startups due to the pandemic, COMEUP 2020 promises to be a silver lining. To this end, startups are invited to use this opportunity to connect with leading investors, companies, and government agencies from South Korea and other countries. They’re also encouraged to use this platform to grow their business in South Korea, Asia’s fourth largest economy and a global leader in ICT, and home to tech majors like Samsung, LG, Kakao, and others.
COMEUP was launched in 2019 to promote the Korean startup ecosystem at home and abroad. The event, which was developed in the same vein as other similar global events, saw over 21,000 attendees from 60 countries in 2019. Also in attendance were more than 4,900 startups and 650 VCs. 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.
This year’s event will be held from November 19 to 21, 2020, and will be live-streamed to tens of thousands of viewers globally. Carrying the objective of supporting startups to expand globally, the annual event has started accepting applications from startups for the opportunity to virtually present their pitches.
Online Pitching opportunity for startups from all over the world
This year, the event will hold online pitching sessions for global startups to get an opportunity to showcase their startup to investors and other stakeholders. More than 700 investor firms are expected to attend.
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 a total of 120 teams divided in 2 leagues:
- The Rookie league (36 teams) will accept applications from startups that are less than 3 years old and have raised less than 410K USD investment
- The Rocket league (84 teams) will accept applications from growth-stage startups.
All 120 startups selected will receive support in creating their pitching videos, which will be showcased during the event as well as streamed online. Additionally, they’ll meet with investors and media representatives. There will also be an award ceremony based on public votes.
Also read: Disaster Tech innovation is key to mitigating the impact of natural disasters
Meet the Future – Post Pandemic, Led by Startups
COMEUP 2020 will carry the theme ’Meet the Future – Post Pandemic, Led by Startups’ and will consist of 12 sessions based on three focus areas: Social System, Work and Life. Check out the sub-topics for each focus area:
- Social system – COVID-19, Politics, Digital healthcare, and environment
- Work – open innovation, Robotics & AI, remote work, and manufacturing
- Life – commerce, education, entertainment, and offline retail
Some of the featured speakers this year are Chris Lee, CEO of 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.”
For more information about COMEUP 2020, visit their website here, where the conference will be live-streamed.
The post For COMEUP 2020, the post-pandemic future will be led by startups appeared first on e27.