International Orientation
The Korea Entrepreneurship Foundation (KEF, Chairman Hwang Chul-joo) carried out domestic orientation for the Korea-Finland Startup Summer Program for Global Entrepreneurship on June 24. Before sending Korean college students to Finland, the organization introduced them to the local startup ecosystem.
In the domestic orientation, the participants were offered a program introduction, a question and answer session with its coach Meri Vainio, indoor lectures including safe trip education by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and field trips to educate them on Korean history and culture.
The Korea-Finland Startup Summer Program for Global Entrepreneurship will kick off in the second week of July right after sending students to Finland. The program was organized to help Korean entrepreneurs stay in Finland for four weeks from July 12 to August 7 and develop startup items. The participants will seek a “born global strategy” by developing ideas based on problem solving, mentoring, visiting local enterprises, and attending special lectures.
The program is co-hosted by the KEF and Aalto Entrepreneurship Society of Finland. This year is the first time it has been run, and its participants were selected by six institutions - Kyungpook National University LINC Business Center, Duksung Women's University Industry Academic Cooperation Foundation, Seoul National University Entrepreneurship Center, Sungshin Women's University entrepreneurship education center, Pohang University of Science & Technology (POSTECH) Entrepreneurship Center, and Korea University of Technology and Education LINC Business Center.
Based on private and public partnerships in Korea and Finland, the program is planned thanks to active support from relevant agencies, including Korea’s Small and Medium Business Administration, the Embassy of Finland in Seoul, Finland’s trade representative FinPro, and Finland’s local government Espoo.
Aalto University Professor Timo Nyberg, who co-designed the program, said, “Complying with the trend that the entrepreneurship environment is rapidly growing around the globe, including Silicon Valley, Tel Aviv, Shanghai, New York, London, and Seoul, we are trying to provide an opportunity for Korean participants to help build a network with international startups, which have settled in Finland’s startup environment.”
Through the Korea-Finland Startup Summer Program for Global Entrepreneurship, the participants will be able to expose their teams and startup items to Finland’s unfamiliar startup ecosystem and verify their ideas from a new perspective by interacting with entrepreneurs with a variety of nationalities who aim to make inroads into the global market.
Visit the program’s official website (www.startupsummerprogram.org) for more information about the whole schedule of the four weeks, instructors, managers, and 14 participants.