Silicon Valley Opens Sustainable Startup Hub

The dream of entering Silicon Valley becomes a reality with Asan Nanum Foundation's 'MARU SF'! An innovative stepping stone for the global leap of Korean startups has been established in San Mateo, California, USA. The Asan Nanum Foundation officially opened its first overseas hub, 'MARU SF,' introducing a short-term stay space that integrates work, accommodation, and networking to help Korean startups successfully settle in Silicon Valley. The biggest feature of MARU SF is that it is a 'residential startup space.' Unlike typical co-working offices, it has the appearance of a suburban luxury home, equipped with 11 bedrooms, a kitchen, and common work areas, allowing up to 30 people to reside and focus on their work simultaneously. This provides a cozy and efficient environment that helps startups reduce accommodation and living costs, which are often the biggest burden when traveling to Silicon Valley, and naturally immerse themselves in the local culture. To provide more companies with opportunities for international expansion, the usage period is limited to 2-6 weeks per visit, with a maximum of 16 weeks annually. Currently, 53 companies selected by the foundation are enjoying this special opportunity through fierce booking competition. Jeong Nami, Executive Director of the Asan Nanum Foundation, explained the background of its establishment, stating, "Our goal is to resolve the dilemma of insufficient initial capital and Korea-centric services, and to help promising early-stage startups experience the world without financial worries." The reactions from actual users are enthusiastic. Hwang Lee-gun, co-founder of WantedLab, emphasized the importance of cost savings and gaining local information and networks, while Jo Yong-won, COO of Wadl, stated that MARU SF was with them during critical moments of global expansion, such as winning first place in the OpenAI hackathon. Kim Hyo-jun, CEO of At, evaluated that MARU SF plays a crucial role in entering the Silicon Valley ecosystem as a 'local.' MARU SF is the Asan Nanum Foundation's third startup space and first overseas hub, following MARU180 in 2014 and MARU360 in 2021, introduced to foster the development of both domestic and international startup ecosystems. The foundation has reorganized the "Chung Ju-young Startup Competition" with 'Frontier Entrepreneurship' as its key theme and is striving to nurture startups in various fields such as climate tech, thereby supporting innovative entrepreneurs. Uhm Yoon-mi, the board chair, presented a vision that MARU SF will become a global community hub embodying 'Frontier Entrepreneurship' as a core infrastructure connecting the startup ecosystems of Korea and the United States, promising active support for startups' successful entry into the U.S. market. MARU SF will now serve as a strong bridgehead for Korean startups to realize their dreams on the global stage.