The Korean Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) announced the inauguration of the COMEUP 2021 organizing committee on May 26th at a grand event held both online and offline at DREAM PLUS in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. COMEUP is the leading global startup festival held in South Korea every year. COMEUP was launched in 2019; COMEUP 2021 will be held from November 17th to 19th  at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), Seoul

‘COMEUP’ is a global communication and exchange event for innovative ventures and startups, promoting the Korean startup ecosystem to the world and preparing opportunities for K-startups to advance overseas. This year the theme is “Meet the Future – Transformation.”

2021 event to look towards post-COVID future

To successfully host the “COMEUP 2021”, which marks its third year, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups has formed an organizing committee led by private experts in the four fields that make up the domestic startup ecosystem – startups, VC and investors, major companies, and media companies.

Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Minister Kwon Chil-seung, introduced the organizing committee consisting of 21 members. The committee will be co-chaired by SeongU Ahn, CEO of Zigbang, and Junghoon Cha, head of the Startup Venture Innovation. The COMEUP 2021 Organizing Committee will be doing full-fledged work for the next six months to cooperate with the public and government to plan the event.

Minister Kwon Chil-seung said in a congratulatory remark at the inauguration ceremony, “COMEUP, which has reached its third year, is expected to become a stage where you can confirm the capabilities of innovative ventures and startups, that are the leading players in the future transformation after the Coronavirus. COMEUP should serve as the brightest lighthouse so that people can move forward without giving up in the voyage of the vast sea.”

Successful startup founders to lead the organizing committee for 2021 

SeongU Ahn, appointed as the co-chairman of the organizing committee, has founded the successful PropTech startup Zigbang, which is growing into a ‘unicorn’ company. In addition, some of the other leading names in the committee include Anthony Paek, Chairman of Lunit Co., Ltd., one of the world’s Top 100 companies in the field of Artificial Intelligence selected by CB Insights, Simon Kim, CEO of Hashed, a specialized accelerator in the blockchain field, Sooin Lee, CEO of Enuma Co., Ltd, a Silicon Valley Edutech startup, and Tae-Yong Kim of EO Studio Co., Ltd., a YouTube creator with 400,000 subscribers. The Organizing Committee is expected to bring about creative ideas in various specialized fields for successfully organizing COMEUP 2021.

​At the inauguration ceremony, CEO SeongU Ahn received a letter of commission from Minister Kwon Chil-seung on behalf of the COMEUP 2021 Organizing Committee. CEO Ahn announced the direction of the overall promotion of the “COMEUP 2021” event, followed by a meeting to explain detailed plans for each of the divisions. SeongU Ahn, co-chairman of the organizing committee, said, “COMEUP has been successfully held over the past two years and has established itself as a leading innovative startup event in Korea. We will be able to leap forward with the event that we do.” The organizing Committee members that attended the inauguration online used ‘Spatial’, a startup that provides VR/AR communication solution.

In addition, former years Organizing Committee members Woowa Brothers’ Kim Bong-jin (2019) and Sophie Kim, CEO of Market Kurly (2020), encouraged and cheered for the new committee through a video message. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, COMEUP 2020 was organized virtually with lot of success  with theme of “Meet The Future – Post Pandemic.” 

What to expect at COMEUP 2021

COMEUP is South Korea’s most significant event for startups and small businesses. COMEUP 2021 (www.kcomeup.com) will be held from November 17 to 19, 2021. This year COMEUP 2021 Slogan is “Meet the Future – Transformation”

COMEUP was launched in 2019 to promote the Korean startup ecosystem at home and abroad. The event was developed on lines of similar global events. In 2019, the event had over 21,000 attendees from 60 countries. More than 4,900 startups and 650 VCs attended the event.

COMEUP 2021 offers numerous programs including ‘Conference’, ‘COMEUP Stars’, and ‘Open Innovation Showcase’, held online and offline.

• In COMEUP 2021 Conference, there will be fireside chat, panel talks, and break session by well-known speakers and trendsetters leading the world of global startups.
• In ‘COMEUP Stars’, startups apply to gain opportunities to promote their company and service to global audiences, and investors. In COMEUP 2021, a total of 72 startups will be selected to join the program. In COMEUP 2020, 1,076 startups from 89 countries submitted their application, creating a competitive rate of 9:1 (120 companies).
• ‘Open Innovation Showcase’ is a newly created program of COMEUP, where CVCs (Corporate Venture Capital) introduce diverse open innovation programs to startups.

Read more about COMEUP, 

• COMEUP 2020 DAY 1: COMEUP STARS pitches & K-Startup Grand Challenge Awards, Special sessions & side events
• COMEUP 2020 team announces final ‘COMEUP STARS’ list of 120 global startups
• South Korea to organize ComeUp 2020 in November; encourages startups to develop post-Covid-19 contactless services
• K-Startup ComeUp2019 held successfully giving startups immense networking & pitching opportunities