17 August 2016

More than 2-thousand startups from 124 countries engaged in the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution, have come to Korea to participate in an initiative to put concepts into motion.

(standup)
"IT startups from all over the world have gathered at the startup campus in Pangyo, south of Seoul, to pitch their ideas to a group of accelerators and tech companies as part of this year's K-Startup Grand Challenge, hosted by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning and led by the National IT Industry Promotion Agency."

By the end of this week only 40 out of 78 teams will be selected to continue on to the next phase of the competition.

Those that make it will be eligible to receive financial support, visas and office space at locations in and outside of Seoul to help them get settled in the country.

"We have an application for VR focusing on retail where we provide immersive shopping experiences. People can actually virtually walk into a store, pick up a product and shop. We are based in India. We are here in Korea because Korea is one of the best markets in terms of internet penetration. And VR is heavily dependent on internet connectivity and early adopters of new technology."

The Challenge was conceived to help foster a healthy startup eco-system in Korea, which is one of the central goals under the government's "creative economy" initiative.

"Creative economy refers to an initiative where science, technology and ICT converge with the imagination of our citizens to create synergy effects. I believe people like you startups will play a pivotal role in realizing this creative economy."

The startup campus in Pangyo which opened in March was built to offer startups a platform to grow to turn it into the Asian version of the Silicon Valley.
To do that, the minister says he hopes to turn the Challenge into an annual event and increase its capacity to support more startups next year.
Kim Ji-yeon, Arirang News, Pangyo in the city of Seongnam.

courtesy : arirang.com

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