NextRise 2024

The NextRise 2024 exhibition held at COEX in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, from June 13 to 14 has come to a successful close.
This year’s exhibition, which is in its 6th year, was held on the largest-scale ever, with the participation of global startup ecosystem stakeholders such as companies, investors, and support organizations. Approximately 1,500 domestic and international startups and 250 global large and medium-sized companies, investment companies, and startup support organizations from 26 countries participated, and approximately 25,000 visitors visited the event during the exhibition period.

At the one-on-one business meet-up, which was held on the largest-scale in Asia, approximately 3,600 meetings were held among more than 220 global conglomerates and investment companies and 1,200 startups, to attract investment and promote business cooperation.
The Korea International Trade Association (KITA) identified the demand areas of global companies and investment companies, and matched them with the technologies of participating startups in advance. Through these match-ups, participating companies discussed practical investment attraction and business cooperation plans on site. In particular, the participation of global companies such as LVMH, BMW, and Sony in this year’s meetup increased by about 60% compared to the previous year, and domestic startups are expected to expand their cooperation with overseas large corporations, and expand their businesses.
Alexa Rios, innovation director at Maersk, who participated in the business meetup, said, “We were able to seek opportunities to strengthen Maersk’s business strategy through meetings with Korean startups with innovative technologies and ideas.” Kim Young-jun, CEO of drone solution startup PABLO AIR, remarked “Through this exhibition, we were able to discuss practical business cooperation with global companies that understand our technological potential.”

Various programs were also prepared to strengthen cooperation with Japan, this year’s guest-country of honor. The Japan Innovation Hall, consisting of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) and 10 Japanese startups, was a popular attraction, and IR demo days and forums were held. In addition, KITA, together with the Japan Economic Association, held the ‘Korea-Japan Open Innovation Summit’ to discuss ways to expand cooperation in open innovation projects between the Korean and Japanese startup ecosystems.
As a side event for the exhibition, a conference on various topics reflecting global startup trends such as artificial intelligence (AI) and mobility was also held. Ilya Strevulaev, an endowed chair professor at Stanford University in the United States, who gave the keynote speech, remarked, “In Korea, the proportion of CVCs in total venture capital (VC) investment has increased to 30% due to the relaxation of regulations on the establishment of corporate-led venture capital (CVC),” and emphasized, “Long-term investment management is necessary to continue innovative investment.”
In the mobility session, global companies such as BMW, Renault, Volvo, and Hyundai Motor Company participated and presented their visions for startup cooperation tasks and investment strategies, while in the AI session, the latest trends in artificial intelligence technology and innovative application cases were shared and the future of AI in various industries was discussed.

A total of 603 companies applied for the 2nd NextRise Awards, which was designed to support promising startup growth and overseas expansion. WELT, a mobile app-based digital therapeutic device developer, and Deeping Source, an AI photo and video recognition technology company, won the Top Innovator Award through a competition of 26 to 1. In addition, companies from Japan, Israel, Singapore, and Turkey, as well as domestic companies, also received innovation awards.
 
 
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