Officials from South Summit and Gyeonggi Province pose for a photo after signing a business agreement on a global startup fair in Madrid, Spain, Friday. (Photo courtesy of Gyeonggi Province)

Gyeonggi Province and Spain’s 'South Summit' to Promote Global Start-up Fair in Pangyo

Gyeonggi-do is preparing to host a global start-up expo in September, and will partner with Spain's South Summit, which has a global reputation in the field.

According to Gyeonggi province’s announcement made on Sept. 9, the province signed a business agreement with South Summit in Madrid, Spain, on Sept. 5 (local time), and agreed to hold the fair in Gwanggyo and Pangyo from Sept. 25-27.

South Summit is the largest startup fair in the southern European region. It was launched in Spain in 2012 and has accumulated about 13 trillion won (13 billion US$) in cumulative investments over the past 10 years and led to the launch of more than seven unicorn companies.

Last year's South Summit Madrid 2023 attracted more than 3,500 startups and 2,000 investors. Leading companies such as SoftBank and Google are also investors and partners.

Gyeonggi Province plans to leverage the expert know-how and network of the South Summit to prepare for the fair, which is expected to attract more than 3,000 startups and 1,000 investors. The expo will offer a variety of programs to promote meetings between startups and investors, including startup contest programs, startup exhibition booths, investment consultations, and lectures and seminars by famous speakers.

In particular, the fair will focus on programs related to the latest trends in artificial intelligence (AI) and deep tech.

“We are excited to help and share the brand value, networking, and know-how that South Summit has accumulated over the years in the global startup ecosystem,” said Maria Benhumea, founder of South Summit, at the signing ceremony.

“We will strive to turn Gyeonggi Province, which is emerging as the Korean version of Silicon Valley, into a global investment destination” and “Holding a startup fair alongside a global startup platform will be a great opportunity to prove the capabilities of Korean startups,” said Kim Hyun-dae, Director of the Future Growth Industry Bureau of Gyeonggi Province.

“We hope that this event will help many startups get investments and overseas expansion opportunities, and eventually become unicorns.” Meanwhile, the province is recruiting promising domestic and foreign startups to participate in the event. Participants can register on the South Summit official website, and for more information, contact the Startup Planning Team at the Gyeonggi Science and Business Accelerator (GBSA).

[Source] Gyeonggi-do-Spain 'South Summit' to Promote Global Startup Fair in Pangyo-si,

Gyeonggi News, June 9, 2024

https://www.kgnews.co.kr/news/article.html?no=796431