[StartupRecipe] Survey Reveals 3 Must-Attend Startup Conferences in Korea

Access to the latest Korean startup news and startup database for free

#Weekly Funding Overview

[May. 12~ May. 16]

#FUNDING

Company	Inudustry	Amount	Round	Investors
Inabooth	Character IP Licensing Platform	-	Pre Series A	Strong Ventures
Dadadoc Health	Remote Medical Devices	1 billion	Seed	Series Ventures, The Ventures, Infobank
Carang	Mobility	70 billion	Series B	Obigo
RMtech	Eco-friendly Construction Material	-	Seed	Infobank
Plfil	Entertainment platform	-		BL TN Partners
Sendy	Sendy	3 billion	Series B Bridge	ES Investor, Vision Equity Partners
Super Ngine	Super Engine	-	Series A
RoAI	AI Robotics Autonomous	1.4 billion	Seed	Future Play
Onbloc	Blockchain	6.1 billion		NewTenderMint
Enerzai	AI Optimization Solution	7.7 billion	SeriesA Bridge	Korea Development Bank, K2 Investment, SBI Investment, Korea Investment Partners
MobilityOne	Integrated Control Technology	-		Alux
LKS	Health Supplement Containers	-	M&A	Nike Private Equity
Pure	Functional Ingredients	200 million		KODIT, etc.
Namdo Market	B2B E-commerce Platform	1.5 billion	Pre Series A	MYSC, BeHigh Investment, KimGisaLab, Infobank
CarbonSix	Robot AI	600 million	Seed	Foothill Ventures, Storm Ventures, Zeitgeist Capital, XQUAD
Galloping	AI Soccer Training	-	Pre Series A	CNT Tech
SoccerGo	Web3 Sports Board Game	700 million		KOL Capital
TEN	AI Infrastructure Solution	8 billion	Series A	LG Uplus, KDB Industrial Bank, Quantum Ventures Korea, Ascendo Ventures
NextStage	Startup Accelerator	-	M&A	Brinc
ATTRAKT	Entertainment Ageny	-		Yes24

#TREND ANALYSIS

Survey Reveals 3 Must-Attend Startup Conferences in Korea

South Korea’s burgeoning startup ecosystem, recognized as a vital engine for national economic growth, hosts numerous startup events annually. A recent survey conducted by Startup Recipe, in collaboration with the Korea Startup Forum, polled 106 members of this ecosystem to gauge their preferences and perceptions. The survey, running from April 21 to May 13, highlights a strong preference for in-person engagement and pinpoints areas needing improvement.

The survey revealed that 48% of the 106 respondents were in their 30s, with 59% residing in Seoul. Over 60% were employed by startups, public institutions, or within the broader startup sector. In terms of engagement, 37% of participants attended 3-5 startup events in the past year, while a significant 14% participated in 10 or more.

Regarding event formats, a clear preference for offline experiences emerged, with 48% favoring in-person events. Hybrid online-offline events were preferred by 44%, while purely online events garnered only 8% of the responses. While lecture-centered conferences were a common choice for preferred event type, networking-focused events received the highest priority as the top preference.

In terms of awareness, COMEUP (at 18.3%) and NextRise (at 18.1%) were the most recognized startup events, followed by Try Everything (10.5%). Actual participation rates closely mirrored this, with COMEUP leading at 24.7%, followed by NextRise at 22.3%, and Try Everything at 10.1%. Satisfaction levels showed COMEUP (27.9%) and NextRise (26.4%) with similar positive ratings, while the Gyeonggi Startup Summit ranked third, though most events recorded satisfaction below 10%. Looking ahead, COMEUP, NextRise, and Try Everything again topped the list of events respondents intend to participate in this year.

Key drivers of event satisfaction included the diversity and quality of startups, valuable speaker content, well-organized exhibition booths, and networking opportunities with investors and companies. Conversely, the primary disappointments cited were insufficient networking opportunities (26.5%), underwhelming program content (21.2%), and unoriginal presenter content (17.9%).

The main purposes for attending startup events were identified as understanding new ideas and trends (28%), networking (26%), and seeking investment or business opportunities (19.1%). Elements considered most important at these events included networking and investment opportunities, interaction with global startup experts, and quality presentations.

However, the survey also highlighted significant challenges within the Korean startup event scene, including repetitive formats (21.9%), superficial networking, and a lack of meaningful business and investment connections. To address these issues, respondents suggested consolidating leading events like COMEUP, NextRise, and Try Everything into larger-scale gatherings akin to CES, MWC, and Slush, encouraging broader public engagement, and diversifying event categories.

In the open-ended opinion section, there was significant criticism regarding the holding of similar events concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area and the VIP-centric opening ceremony practices of government-led events. The fact that all of the top 3 most recognized events are government-led lends credence to these criticisms. There were also concerns raised about the lack of prominent global events. While regional events may claim to be global, there were opinions that genuine global connections are difficult to achieve.

#MORE NEWS

Naver D2SF Marks 10 Years of Investing in Korean Tech Startups — What’s Next?

Two Unicorns Emerge from Super Gap Startup 1000+ Project

Curestream Raises KRW 11B for Automated Insulin Delivery System