The ‘most innovative economy’ Seoul is recruiting startups all over the world

Here’s an opportunity for you to enter Asia’s market, K-Startup Grand Challenge 2018 is looking for startups that want to expand to Asia.

This is the third time the National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA) and the South Korean government will invest in startups from all over the world, providing huge support ranging from regulatory and logistic support, campus infrastructure, mentoring, networking with Korean giant enterprises and even support for settlement in the country.

So literally any promising startups with a clear objective to expand into Asia by using the Korean market as a stepping-stone can apply for this programme.

And they are not restricting it to particular sectors as well, sectors from blockchain to AI, and from gaming to beauty.

A wonderful opportunity? Yes, and the prizes are even more exciting.

Startups and entrepreneurs who visit South Korea will be eligible for “fast-track” visas through the Startup Immigration Support System and that’s not even the prizes. A total of 80 startups from K-Startup Grand Challenge 2018 will be selected and invited to work at Pangyo Startup Campus. Out of the 80, the top 40 startups will be chosen and provided with additional support and funding at the end of the final demo day.

The final demo day will be in December.

Here is a glimpse of what you might be getting.

So why should you apply for this?

Not only is this a wonderful step into the Asian market, or the amazing prizes that you might win, South Korea is named the most innovative economy.

Claiming the crown for the 2018 Bloomberg Innovation Index, South Korea is the place to be if you want to accurate your startup and enter a lucrative market. And this is not their first rodeo as well, South Korea has remained their position for the fifth connective year.

According to Bloomberg, “Samsung Electronics Co., the nation’s most-valuable company by market capitalisation, has received more U.S. patents in the 2000s than any firm except International Business Machines Corp.”

Many startups in Australia are thinking of expanding overseas, while Silicon Valley seems like an obvious choice, Asia is definitely not something you should look past.

The Asian market is on innovation overdrive with countries like Japan and Singapore and of course South Korea, heading the trend. Plus, we are nearer to Asia than the other side of the world.

There are major cultural differences especially with the business culture, expanding to a new market can be daunting and risky, which is definitely one reason why we might be apprehensive.

Hence the K-Startup Grand Challenge is a perfect opportunity to take to expand into the Asian market because it provides not only a well-curated opportunity, it provides guidance into the market.

I mean, mentorship by world-leading tech companies and living expenses paid for while working in the world’s most innovative economy, it is an opportunity not to be missed.

Application for the K-Startup Grand Challenge 2018 is submitted online through the official website at https://www.k-startupgc.org. If you and your startup team are interested to find out more, visit the official Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/kstartupgc.

So I say take this chance if you’re planning on an expansion to the Asian market because an opportunity like this is hard to come by.