Korea's Presence in New York's Startup Sector
There has always been a strong Korean presence in NYC. Just stroll down W 32nd Street in so called ‘Koreatown’ and it’s easy to forget for a moment that you’re in New York City. Recently, that influence has been most apparent in the startup community as more and more startups arrive to the city from Seoul. Many of these were at the Korean Startup Summit at The New Yorker Hotel which The New York International team attended last Friday (October 16th) along with 500+ other attendees.With a government that actively supports the startup eco-system comparable to NYC, a highly educated tech workforce and a strategic location in Asia, Seoul, Korea has emerged as one of the world’s leading hubs for startups often mentioned as being 3-5 years ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to mobile technology. The support from the Korean authorities was underlined on the day as President and CEO of KOTRA (Korean Trade and Investment Promotion Association) Jaehong Kim flew half way around the world specifically to open the event before flying back the same day.There were 30 startups exhibiting while 10 presented as part of the main program. They operate in diverse industries such as connected health, hospitality, big data, advertising and gaming among others. Murat Aktihanoglu, Managing Director for the ERA (Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator) who was a keynote speaker spoke about the quality of these startups both in Seoul and those who have come to NYC. The ERA choose only 10 companies for their incubator program 3 times year out of hundreds of applications where companies receive a $40k investment, mentorship & office space. On this occasion, there were three Korean startups (ediket, Anyractive & Huinno) chosen to be park of the 10 which is impressive for such a well-known accelerator. All there were also present at our recent International day conference and made impressive pitches.Another interesting keynote speaker was Korean native and startup founder Charlie Kim from Next Jump who claimed to have made every mistake in the book twice and survived. If you haven’t heard of the company, look them up to hear about their corporate culture. Simon Sinek’s Ted Talk would be a good start, available here where he uses them as an example. Both Charlie and Murat gave valuable feedback to the entrepreneurs pitching, which everyone in the room could relate to. Tips like “not just having a good pitch but also something you want to get out of it, a call to action.” Charlie Kim also suggested to the audience that not everyone is an entrepreneur and that it’s not as easy as it seems to launch a successful app business; “90% of apps on the market earn less than $100k in revenue per year.”The busy program also included a Korean VC panel and a Young Entrepreneurs panel. Check out the photos and conversation from the day on twitter using the hashtag #koreanstartupnyc and definitely watch out for this event next year!