The 2025 World Women’s Venture Forum (WWVF) convened on November 6, 2025, at the Grand Hyatt Seoul Hotel’s Grand Ballroom, gathering around 370 women venture entrepreneurs from across the globe. Held under the compelling theme, “Sustainable Innovation, Connecting the World,” the forum successfully convened a total of 500 participants, including delegates from 19 countries such as the US, China, Japan, Canada, Kazakhstan, Bangladesh, and Mongolia.
Organized by the Korea Women’s Venture Association (KOVWA), led by Chairperson Seong Mi-sook, as part of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ Women’s Venture Week, this second annual event marked a significant pivot. Unlike the 2024 inaugural forum, which focused on establishing the Global Women Venture Network, the 2025 forum placed a strong emphasis on practical, business-oriented programs designed to substantially enhance overseas market capabilities for women-led ventures.
Chairperson Seong Mi-sook highlighted this shift in her opening remarks, stating, “in times of great uncertainty, we need new solutions beyond existing formulas.” She positioned women ventures, built on innovation, inclusion, and collaboration, as central to the future economy and expressed the ambition for WWVF to become a dedicated business hub for global women tech entrepreneurs.
The event featured a three-part structure, commencing with the keynote speech titled “Women Ventures Transforming Global Business” delivered by Park Jun-young, CEO of Cross IMC. This was immediately followed by a panel discussion involving seven domestic and international business leaders exploring the possibilities and solutions for women ventures’ global expansion. The second part involved parallel sessions, specifically export consulting meetings where 27 Korean women-led companies conducted one-on-one sessions with 18 overseas buyers, alongside an investment IR session where 10 promising startups pitched to overseas venture capitalists and global fund representatives. The third part concluded the program with an opening tech show and the formal WWVF commemoration ceremony.
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