Opening Doors: KOSPO's Global Leap from Shanghai Foothold

To facilitate the global expansion of the Korean startup ecosystem, the Korea Startup Forum (KOSPO) successfully completed a 'business trip' to Shanghai from April 24 to 26. This was a strategic move to strengthen the global connectivity of 'COMEUP 2025' next year. Gathered at the Shanghai EIV Korea-China Business Center, Korean startups from 7 different sectors, including entertainment, healthcare, and software, knocked on the door of the vast Chinese market. Participants explored commercial hubs such as Parkson Newcore and Joy City, directly researching Chinese consumer behavior and cultural preferences, and established a bridgehead for Korean startups to enter China through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the EIV Korea-China Business Center. Afterwards, 7 companies including Mobidays and Batterfly presented their visions through 3-minute pitches in front of local officials, and by sharing the vivid experiences and know-how of senior companies in the Chinese market like Aidenlab and BMSmile, explored practical market entry strategies. Through visits to the Weilai (Nio) showroom and Columbia Circle, and local networking, they also gained a multi-dimensional understanding of the Chinese ecosystem. This trip went beyond a simple exploration, functioning as a practical global expansion support platform that combined KOSPO's startup incubation know-how and EIV's local infrastructure. Han Sang-woo, Chairman of KOSPO, emphasized that this event was a "practical capacity-building activity," and promised to enhance COMEUP's global connectivity and expand support for startups' overseas expansion. KOSPO plans to continuously expand the global network of Korean startups by organizing preliminary events linked to major hubs both domestically and internationally.