Lottemart Jakarta Used as a Testbed
The Korea International Trade Association (KITA) is recruiting companies to participate in the “Lotte Mart Testbed in Jakarta, Indonesia,” the first overseas testbed project for Korean startups looking to expand into overseas.
The startups selected for the testbed will be able to apply their technologies to their fullest at Lotte Mart in Jakarta to maximize customer shopping convenience, increase sales marketing effectiveness, and reduce facility operation costs. In addition, there will be opportunities for them to verify products, services and technologies for two months, and on-site meetings with local venture capital (VC) investors.
KITA plans to expand the “Startup Overseas Testbed” program to landmark facilities in Europe, including Spain and Luxembourg in the second half of this year.
Last year, KITA organized the “Coex Startup Testbed” for the first time, where a total of 198 companies participated. Among them, the startups with tracking technology of real-time parking lot location, artificial intelligence (AI) security robots, and eco-friendly technologies are finalizing their contracts with KITA affiliates.
Cho Sang-hyun, chief of Global Startup Center at KITA, said, “The multi-purpose complex facility is a mini smart city where the 4th Industrial Revolution technologies such as AI, big data, and augmented reality (AR) can be applied. It is expected to be an outpost for startups to expand into overseas markets,” and added, "We will continue to expand the support project that utilizes overseas landmark facilities as a living lab for Korean startups."