- COMEUP held at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul for 3 days between November 9 (Wed) ~ 11 (Fri)
- First year of being privately led, overall concept and programs to be restructured around startup ecosystem
- Young Lee, the Minister of SMEs and Startups, and Jaewook Park, the Chairman of the Korea Startup Forum, lead fire-side chat at opening ceremony on the 9^th

‘COMEUP 2022’, the global startup event, will be held at Dongdaeumun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul for a total of 3 days, starting on November 9^th (Wed) and closing on the 11^th (Fri).

COMEUP is making the switch to a private-led, government-supported system this year, and is being completely restructured as an event with the startup ecosystem as the star and beginning their new leap forward. The Korea Startup Forum (Chairman Jaewook Park), which was selected as the organizer last March, has been planning and running COMEUP 2022 overall, and has prepared various programs to comprehensively display the innovation capabilities of the startup ecosystem with a total of 52 advisors, as well as startups, investors, global companies, and experts.

The programs of COMEUP 2022 have been based around the 4 axes of conference, startup pitching, open innovation, and global collaboration and connection, to reflect the key interests of the startup ecosystem.

Minister Young Lee of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, who was present at the opening ceremony, said that “Though the global market is facing tough economic times, we hope that ‘COMEUP 2022’ can serve as a catalyst for startups in Korea and abroad to come as one to overcome this crisis and show the potential to lead the digital economy.” She went on to say, “The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will also provide active policy support.”

At the conference session, ‘Future Talk’, key issues related to startups that have recently risen as hot topics, such as ways to reform regulations that hinder growth of startups and ways for startups to survive in the recent dark times for investment, will be discussed. The stories of startups that have managed to expand the market and lead innovation in these tough times can also be heard here. Around 80 experts active in various fields, such as global expansion strategy, investment, high tech, web 3, energy, space industry, healthcare, AI, and neuroscience, will be participating as speakers and shed light on the present and future of the startup ecosystem.

The opening day on the 9^th in particular, was at the center of attention with the holding of a Fireside Chat with Minister Young Lee of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and Chairman Jaewook Park of the Korea Startup Forum, who were former startup entrepreneurs, as an opening event. Unlike most events that start with a presentation or a speech from lecturers, the event was started off by candid conversation between officials from the private and government sectors in a comfortable atmosphere, which symbolized the innovativeness of startups. A deep discussion on key issues in the recent startup ecosystem, such as investment, employment, and government support, will take place here.

At ‘Startup Valley’, innovative startups that will lead the future get into IR pitching and run promotion booths. The COMEUP Stars and Rocket League, which were ultimately chosen after beating stiff competition of 12.6 to 1, will get on stage and get into a heated pitching contest based on previous accelerating that took place so far. In addition, unicorns and Korean and overseas leaders of innovation with potential to grow as a unicorn can be seen in the ‘Unicorn Talk’ session, which was newly created this year. The 10 companies of The Pinkfong Company, My Real Trip, Megazone Cloud, Musinsa, Musicow, Backpacker, IGAWorks, Yanolja, WoowaBros, and Deel will be a part of the IR pitching and will support mentoring to share know-how of startup business growth to the Rookie League.

COMEUP 2022 restructured the Open Innovation program to be centered around the demands of startups. Going one step beyond the previous method of global corporations and CVC introducing their company programs, this year’s ‘OI Ground’ will have Open Innovation Reverse Pitching, where they will propose business models and projects that they wish to collaborate on with startups. Around 20 global corporations and CVCs that lead global open innovation, like Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor Company, NAVER, GS Retail, Google, Microsoft, and IBM, are scheduled take part and introduce their own detailed open innovation strategies in IR pitching and group talk formats and have networking with startups to discover collaboration models.

As COMEUP 2022 is Korea’s biggest global startup event, numerous key partnered organizations and companies will take part. At the special event, ‘COMEUP X’, which will the attendance of Asem SMEs Eco Innovation Center (ASEIC), Italian Trade Agency (ITA), German Entrepreneurship Asia, Korea Institute of Design Promotion, and Korea University, selected startups will have a demo day and show off their global business capacity.

Through the ‘Global Collaboration Session’, overseas startup ecosystem officials such as the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM), UK Department for International Trade in Korea (DIT), Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur), and the Tanzania Startup Association will present the startup policies and direction of their respective countries and promote global exchange. Aside from this, various benefits from startups and global companies that share the entrepreneurial spirit, such as SOCAR, WoowaBros, Deel, will be provided, so that not only startups, but regular visitors can also participate in the event.

With the transfer to the private sector this year as a catalyst, COMEUP is expanding its global base to make the leap as a Top 5 startup event in the world. The event will be attended by around 250 people in the startups and the relevant ecosystem from 19 countries around the world, including the USA, UK, Germany, Italy, India, Vietnam, and Tanzania. Korean and overseas officials from all walks of life, including Klaus Wehage, the author of the Wallstreet bestseller ‘Global Class’ and the CEO of 10X Innovation Lab, CEO Magnus Grimeland of the global investor, Antler, CRO Shou Wang of the HR management platform, Deel, CEO Youngdeok Kim of the startup growth support institution, Banks Foundation for Young Entrepreneurs (D.CAMP), and Lia Kim, a famous choreographer at the forefront of K-culture and CEO of the startup 1Million Dance Studio, will all be there to exchange business and generate synergy.

COMEUP 2022 stands for the dynamism of startups that move the world and developed and uses the new slogan and BI (Brand Identity) of ‘We Move the World’. The event actively utilized the newly chosen main color of tangerine and its complementary secondary color, purple, all over the event venue and in various productions to show the dynamic and free-spirited energy of startups. It also utilized a wide and flexible font and curve motif, to symbolize the global startup event’s intent to connect the world.

CEO Sungjin Choi of the Korea Startup Forum said that, “Held for the first time as private-led, COMEUP 2022 will be a meaningful place where startups will be at the center and share their vivid stories,” and went on to say, “We have put in a lot of effort in preparation to run this as a safe and meaningful event, so I hope you take interest and enjoy the event.”

The global startup festival, COMEUP 2022, will be held between November 9~11 in Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), and will also be available online through live broadcasts.

Having its 4^th iteration this year, ‘COMEUP 2022’ is hosted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Young Lee) and organized by the Korea Startup Forum (Chairman Jaewook Park). Startups, investors, and people related to startups from over 15 countries will be attending, and this year in particular is the start of COMEUP’s rebranding from the previous government-private collaboration to the private-led event that it is now as it aims to become a global Top 5 startup event. With the slogan of ‘WE MOVE THE WORLD’, the event will be conducted both on and offline, and will have various programs like Academic Conferences (Conference), Open Innovation Strategy of Global Companies (Open Innovation), COMEUP Stars Company Introduction (IR) and Booth Exhibitions, and Business Matching (Biz Matching).