Taking The First Footstep Together With The City
The global war for talent has become a universal phenomenon across regions and industries. Virtually all the major cities around the world are vying for the attention of top talents in future growth sectors such as artificial intelligence, bioscience and fintech, by creating easier environments to launch startups.
Seoul is hardly an exception in this regard. The tech-savvy capital city of South Korea had announced plans last year to nurture 10,000 ‘innovative talents’ by 2022 – individuals with technical knowledge in fourth industrial revolution-related segments or startup entrepreneurs from overseas. The city will also double the number of available business facilities for tech startups in AI and bio sectors to 2,200 spaces.
Its ambition is gradually becoming a reality. Seoul is grabbing more spotlight in the global startup scene as its ecosystem is becoming more competitive. According to The Global Startup Ecosystem Report published by Startup Genome, the world-leading innovation policy advisory and research organization, Seoul was included in the Top 20 list of cities for the total value of startup ecosystem in 2020, whereas it was outside the Top 30 list in 2017. Startup Genome valued Seoul’s ecosystem at 47 trillion won in 2020.
Startup Genome highlighted that the city has seen a rapid rise in the ranks due to the emergence of more unicorns, advanced R&D capabilities it has accumulated as Asia’s center of technological innovation, and patent application rate. Its report especially emphasized that South Korea’s R&D spending ratio to GDP is the second highest in the world at 4.3%.
Startup Genome further evaluated that the public sector’s proactive role in supporting startups has been fruitful in creating a more attractive ecosystem in Seoul. It emphasized the city’s scale-up policies such as the 1.2 trillion won ‘Seoul Future Investment Fund’ and fully customized support to startups in all stages of business development.
The numbers also prove that more global talents are coming to Seoul for entrepreneurial opportunities. First, the number of startups launched by global talents with the support of Invest Seoul Center, the institution responsible for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) and supporting startups launched by global talents, increased by 2.6 times in 5 years, from 45 in 2014 to 115 last year. Likewise, the amount of FDI generated in relation to these startups was up from 4.5 billion won to 10 billion won. Choe Hong-seok, Project Manager at Invest Seoul Center, commented that “Seoul is the Asian Silicon Valley with many great talents enjoying the benefits of world-best IT infrastructure. To achieve win-win growth of both individuals and the city, the public sector has been ceaseless in assisting global talents to launch startups here in Seoul.”