About GEN in South Korea

Seoul

 

GEN operates a platform of projects and programs in 200 countries aimed at making it easier for anyone, anywhere to start and scale a business. GEN’s mission in South Korea is to support economic growth by fostering startup activity and the development of South Korea’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. By engaging entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, policymakers, and support organizations, GEN aims to build thriving entrepreneurship communities in South Korea that accelerate innovation and new business formation.

GEN’s objectives in South Korea are to:

  • Connect entrepreneurs to the best global resources and networks
  • Enable interaction and collaboration with global partners and investors
  • Expand the number of citizens working for startups in South Korea by fully legitimizing entrepreneurship
  • Support the emergence of a new class of global entrepreneurs with access to research, programs and networks through GEN
  • Connect an emerging community of national startup policy advisors with a next-generation network of world-class entrepreneurship research institutions to generate evidence-based policymaking
  • Collaborate with ecosystem role players and strengthen the current entrepreneurial ecosystem

TIMELINE

  • 2014: Startup Nations Summit Seoul
    • South Korea emerged as a key player in the global entrepreneurship ecosystem by hosting the Startup Nations Summit in Seoul. The three-day event brought together entrepreneurship leaders from more than 40 countries to exchange experiences and celebrate the era of entrepreneurial innovation, featuring the World Startup Competition with participants from 45 countries.
  • 2025: Compass Award Recognition
    • The Ministry of SMEs and Startups of Korea received a nomination for the GEN Compass Award in the Founder Catalyst category, recognizing its dedication to connecting, inspiring, and empowering startup founders through impactful GEN programming.
  • 2025: Entrepreneurship World Cup Success
    • SpaceMap, a South Korean startup providing a real-time decision-making platform for space asset safety and efficiency, won $100,000 in the Space Tech track (Public Safety category) at the EWC Global Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.