Bringing SaaS to Korea
We all love traveling. In fact, one of my favorite things to do is visit startup ecosystems around the world. There’s just so much to learn and absorb. But as we all know, traveling became impossible this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. First, MWC was canceled. Then so did Web Summit, SXSW, Slush, and every other major tech or startup event around the world.
So, we came up with an idea. Instead of traveling, let’s bring startup ecosystems directly to us with a virtual tour. And to keep things relevant to 2020, we decided to choose SaaS as an overall theme.
Why SaaS?
Korea is a country more traditionally known for hardware than software. But in a post-COVID world, businesses are realizing the importance of pivoting to online business models. In fact, the global SaaS (Software as a Service) market, valued at $158 billion in 2020, is projected to double by 2026.
SaaS could be the next boom for Korea’s startup ecosystem, but first, we need to raise more awareness. So, at PowerPT, we ran a SaaS-themed virtual pitch competition (see more here). Once we saw how successful it was, we decided it was time for our global SaaS tour.
Finding a global SaaS partner
In order to introduce SaaS from cities around the world, we needed a partner who already had connections. That’s when we found SaaStock, a global community of SaaS founders, executives, and investors. So, we partnered with SaaStock and created a series of Global Startup Tours.
Touring the world
Our first event was a virtual trip to Europe where we learned about the SaaS scenes in London, Munich, Krakow, and Ljubljana. Even SaaStock’s CEO, Alex Theuma, joined and spoke about London’s SaaS scene.
The week after, we headed to North America where we heard from experts in Vancouver, San Francisco, and Denver. We learned about the most famous startups, investors, exits, and trends. We even had one of our speakers, Chris Hobbs, deliver an introduction in Korean!
For our final event of the series, we headed to the APAC region where we heard from SaaS leaders in Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangalore, and Sydney. Since this region is close to home, the audience was much more inquisitive and interactive with the panelists.
That’s a wrap — until next year
These events were a great way to end this year of uncertainty. And it was so much fun, we’ve decided to partner with SaaStock again in 2021 for more events! So, be on the lookout for SaaS events from us. But next time, be ready. We’ll be diving into the SaaS ecosystem right here in Korea.
