While the world is grappling with the severe economic consequences of the novel COVID-19 outbreak, South Korea is steadily working to uplift the country’s business ecosphere. By utilizing the country’s advanced technological infrastructure, the Korean government is ensuring that most of the business events planned for the year are not canceled, especially those associated with the emerging startup world.

The two-day annual technology forum NextRise2020 Seoul was kicked off on June 23 in its online version this year. The event is one of the efforts made by the Korean government to put up the startup ecosystem on the global tech map. NextRise 2020 Seoul is a global startup conference and exhibition that connects promising Korean startups with the global startup ecosystem.

Sessions, Speeches accessible on ‘YouTube’

NextRise 2020 is the second edition of the conference, hosted by KITA (Korea International Trade Association) and KDB (Korea Development Bank). This year it is being held using the online platform. The event presents some of the outstanding deep tech startups of the country and brings international VCs, accelerators, investors, incubators, media, and other partners to the forum. Fifty global online sessions, including speeches, seminars, lectures, are held over two days of June 23-24 on YouTube, instead of the offline exhibition.

NextRise 2020’s main committee is holding the conference from CoEx in Seoul, and the other international invitees are participating in the event from the comforts of their space using video conferencing. 100 overseas investors and representatives of large corporates participating have been invited this year to share their expertise.  Representatives of at least 21 multinational corporations based in South Korea are also participating. There are over 300 – one to one meetings and networking opportunities organized for Korean startups with the invited companies and investors.

Prominent speakers sharing knowledge 

Some of the prominent speakers in the startup ecosystem taking part in the conference are Philipp Gneiting, Open innovation director of Daimer(Mercedes Benz) Open Innovation Director, Chris Aniszczyk, Vice President, The Linux Foundation Vice President, Marco Marinucci, CEO of Mind the Bridge, Franz Fayot, Luxembourg Minister of Economy, James Monnat, CEO of Foundry Europe, Anne Lidgard Director of Sweden Innovation Agency “Vinovva,” Organ Gurel, CTO at the Eidare / Venture Partner at the Yozma Group.

NextRise 2020 aims to provide Korean startups an international networking experience, and with its online approach this year, it has opened the forum for many aspiring entrepreneurs across the world. The Korean startup participants had to fill out an application form online on NextRise 2020‘s page to take part in the event and exhibit their product and service. The online participation qualifies them for one-to-one meetings. NextRise 2020 also gives the international VC community the chance to meet promising tech startups in South Korea and make investment decisions.

The main organizers of the event are  Korea Development Bank(KDB), Korea International Trade Association(KITA), Korean Venture Capital Association(KVCA), Korean Venture Business Association(KOVA), and National Research Council of Science & Technology(NST). While the one-to-one meetings are exclusive for participating startups and VCs, those who want to attend the keynote speeches and other sessions can access NextRise 2020’s YouTube Page.