Korea Startup Forum Southeastern Branch Celebrates 5th Anniversary: Leading the Local Ecosystem!

The Korea Startup Forum (KSF, 코리아스타트업포럼) Southeastern Branch held the ‘5th Anniversary of the Launch of KSF Southeastern Branch’ on the 15th at Cafe NOTICE in Jung-gu, Busan to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the Southeastern Branch.

The event was attended by Minji Kim, CEO of V.Dream, who currently serves as the 3rd Chairman of the Branch, Jaewook Jung, CRO of Sendy, who served as the 1st and 2nd Chairman of the Branch, and other startups such as Taejin Kim, CEO of Flasystem. In addition, Busan Metropolitan City, Busan Regional Small & Medium Business Administration, Busan Center for Creative Economy & Innovation, Ulsan Center for Creative Economy & Innovation, Gyeongnam Center for Creative Economy & Innovation, Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Busan Techno Park, and Busan Economic Promotion Agency, KOSME Gyeongnam Youth Entrepreneurship Academy, KDB Bank, Korea Venture Investment, Series Ventures, Gyeongnam Venture Investment, Korea Business Angels Association Southeastern Angel Investment Hub, Next Generation Entrepreneurs Club and others from the entrepreneurship ecosystem joined the event to celebrate growth and strengthen mutual solidarity. The event was held at the same venue where the Southeastern Branch’s predecessor, the Busan Council, announced its launch in 2019, adding to its significance.

Sungjin Choi, CEO of Korea Startup Forum, opened the event with a welcome speech, followed by Minji Kim, 3rd Chairman of KSF Southeastern Branch, who recapitulated the key activities of the Southeastern Branch over the past five years and shared its achievements. Launched in February 2019 as the Busan Council with 30 member startups, the Southeastern Branch has expanded to a Council covering Busan, Ulsan and Gyeongnam in 2022 and has grown into a regionally representative entrepreneurial community with more than 350 member companies. This is nearly 12 times the growth since its inception, with voluntary and intensive exchanges and business cooperation among members as key drivers. In addition, expanding partnerships with local institutions and medium-sized enterprises to increase influence and create a healthy entrepreneurial culture in the region, recommending startup policies for startups in the Southeast, and activating the ecosystem are also key factors for growth.

In the growth talk that followed, entrepreneurs from five companies – Noting Better, MarineInnovation, V.Dream, Sendy and Snack365 – shared their experiences of the ups and downs of starting a business and pledged to strengthen cooperation. As local entrepreneurs, they shared various examples of how they have gained growth momentum through solidarity and exchange, which resonated with the participants.

The event culminated with the reading of the 5th Anniversary Manifesto of the KSF Southeastern Branch. Minji Kim, the 3rd Chairman of the KSF Southeastern Branch, and the members of the steering committee emphasised that KSF Southeastern Branch will continue to build a healthy ecosystem in the region and strive for global growth by spreading innovation values through entrepreneurship, focusing on business growth, strengthening policy activities to revitalise the local entrepreneurship ecosystem, supporting access to global growth, and presenting role models of the entrepreneurial community for a “startup-friendly country”.

“The KSF Southeastern Branch has been able to grow into a core community leading the regional startup ecosystem because entrepreneurs have demonstrated the power of solidarity and cohesion,” said Minji Kim, the 3rd Branch Chairman. “Although there are still many challenges to solve, such as population migration and rural depopulation, as well as the economic downturn at home and abroad, we will continue to actively propose solutions to regional problems based on the power of entrepreneurship and solidarity, and work closely together based on our top priority of regional shared growth.”

Meanwhile, the Korea Startup Forum (KSF) will host the second edition of ‘BUSAN Slush’D’ on 25 June at BEXCO in Busan. Last year’s inaugural BUSAN Slush’D, a spin-off of Slush, a major Finnish startup event brought to Korea by KSF, was successful as a locally focused event that attracted more than 1,000 participants. This year’s event will focus on creating a bridgehead for potential local startups to enter the overseas market and spreading the local entrepreneurial culture by supporting students and budding entrepreneurs.