KITA is to host large-scale Open Innovation meet-ups during NextRise Seoul 2022 scheduled to be held in June

- A total of 40 global companies and venture capital firms are expected to show up and start-ups interested in signing up for the event can apply from April 20th

The Korea International Trade Association (Chairman: Christopher Koo) and Korea Development Bank (KDB) announced on April 19th that NextRise Seoul 2022, scheduled to be held in June, will be inviting more than 100 global companies and venture capital firms to hold a large-scale Open Innovation meet-up event.

The upcoming event is expected see start-ups specializing in a wide range of innovative industry sectors, including food technology, energy, biomedicine & healthcare, artificial intelligence and mobility, engaged in meet-ups. Well-known 22 global companies, including Volkswagen, Pepsi, Airbus, Universal Pictures and Loreal, and 18 renown venture capital firms, including DXA Invest, have already shown interest in participating in the event. These companies and venture capital firms will have face-to-face meetings with domestic start-ups in June during NextRise 2022 and plan to decide on the feasibility of investment and conducting tech scouting.

KITA plans to discover innovative start-ups that fulfill the needs of participating global companies and venture capital firms for collaboration and also plans to support networking in various forms, including virtual or in-person meet-ups.

Pil-jae Park, the head of the division responsible for supporting start-ups to expand their business operations overseas, said, “Many domestic start-ups are already contributing to services exports by having business operations overseas.” He also added, “NextRise has now grown to earned its prominence as Asia’s largest fair for start-ups and we will be fully committed to make NextRise a mutually beneficial platform that supports business collaboration between Korean start-ups and start-ups based elsewhere and encourages innovation and investment.”

Applications for meet-ups will be opened from April 20th to May 18th and more information can be found by visiting NextRise official website at https://www.nextrise.co.kr.