Google and Seoul Metropolitan Government Launch ‘AI Startup School with Seoul’ to Support the Growth of AI Startups

Google Startup Campus(구글 스타트업 캠퍼스) will kick off the program on March 5 with an orientation for the AI Startup School with Seoul, which is designed to foster startups in the AI space.

The AI Startup School with Seoul is the AI-specific arm of Google’s Startup School participatory education program, which supports early-stage entrepreneurs around the world.

The AI Startup School with Seoul launch event at Sookmyung Women’s University will bring together approximately 800 attendees, including Se-hoon Oh, Mayor of Seoul, KyoungHoon Kim, Country Director of Google Korea, and Mike Kim, Head of Google for Startups, APAC, to celebrate the launch of the program.

In addition to congratulations and detailed program information for program participants, the event will also feature a roundtable session where entrepreneurs who have built successful AI startups will share their insights. Shawny Kwon, CEO of Munice, a recipient of the Google Women Founders Fund, Ga-hye Jeong, CTO of Zenerate, an AI-based Proptech company, and startup venture investment expert Mark Tetto, Co-CEO of TCK Investment, JoCoding (Donggeun Jo), a Korean YouTube creator of coding content, will discuss the growth of startups, the need for AI and how to use it, and review the direction of the AI Startup School program.

“This year will be the year that Seoul’s administration shifts from digital transformation (DX) to AI transformation (AX), and we are already leading the way in applying AI technology to various fields, such as preventing lonely deaths of elderly people living alone with AI care robots and AI-based crowd detection smart CCTV,” said Se-hoon Oh, Mayor of Seoul. He also said, “Seoul will support them to grow into future resources representing Korea by adding the ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ of challenge and growth to their AI application and technology capabilities.”

KyoungHoon Kim, Country Director of Google Korea, said, “We have announced the ‘AI Startup School with Seoul’ program in collaboration with the Seoul Metropolitan Government to improve the understanding of AI technology among young people in Seoul and foster excellent startups. We hope that this program will contribute to the strengthening and innovation of Korea’s AI startup ecosystem.”

The program will be held every Tuesday for six weeks, from the first day of the event on 5 March to 9 April, at the Snow Flower Plaza Hall of Sookmyung Women’s University in Seoul. The program sessions are designed to help young people develop an entrepreneurial spirit and build the skills needed to run a startup, including AI skills. The first session, the Entrepreneurship Workshop, will take place on 5 March and will detail attitudes and perspectives on running a startup, problem-solving and how to use technology to solve problems. Other sessions include strategic product storytelling, customer acquisition strategies using Google Ads, introduction to AI and cloud tools for startups, leadership principles for success, and conversations with founders of innovative AI startups.

The first 1,000 university students and early-stage entrepreneurs in Seoul will be able to register for each session free of charge, and can register for all sessions if they wish. The program is currently experiencing strong interest, with registration for each session approaching capacity. Program participants will also receive priority access to future Google Startup Campus programs, including talk series, speaker sessions and more.

Google Startup Campus Seoul, the third Google Startup Campus globally and the first in Asia, is a space for entrepreneurs and a startup community that has supported more than 130 startups, attracted cumulative investment of $528.3 million (KRW 705.9 billion) and created more than 3,700 jobs by the end of 2022 since it opened in 2015. Google has also successfully hosted Startup School Busan in 2023 and Startup School: Student Edition in partnership with Sookmyung Women’s University to support the growth of local talent and startups.