SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea's annual startup event, COMEUP 2023, has announced the team matches for this year's iteration.
The Korea Startup Forum, responsible for organizing the event, confirms the participation of 13 venture capital (VC) firms and accelerators.
Why it matters:
The team matches, along with the participation of prominent VCs, signal the growth and relevance of the COMEUP event within the startup ecosystem.
Key points:
- Participation: 13 VC firms, including Softbank Ventures and Plug and Play, will partner with COMEUP's startup houses.
- Event structure: COMEUP will introduce a survival audition format. Startups in the Rookie League will compete in a tournament format, advancing through an initial pitching phase to the main event in November.
- Selection Mechanism: The selection process used a draft method similar to how sports teams select rookie players. Startups were ranked, and those with the highest rankings were paired with corresponding VC firms.
- Standout startups: Five startups, specifically Smoretalk, Albaam, METLiT, AGMO, and Samsin, were highlighted based on their investor rankings, which were solidified in a prior onsite draft event.
- Timeline: Preliminary pitching rounds will be held on August 18 (Korean teams) and August 21 (international teams). COMEUP 2023 will occur November 8-10, online and at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul.
The Big Picture:
COMEUP is an annual startup event in Seoul curated by the Korea Startup Forum, a significant startup membership organization in South Korea.
The event includes various startup-focused programs, including pitching competitions and networking opportunities.
The 2022 edition featured 250 startups from 19 countries and attracted 57,000 attendees in both physical and digital formats.
