Promising ICT Start-ups to Explore Possibilities of Overseas Expansion

Promising Korean start-ups in the ICT sector will go to the U.S. to investigate the possibility of overseas expansion and seek a way to expand their business networks.

The Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) announced on Oct. 26 that it is planning to hold an event where six start-ups meet global IT companies like Google and Qualcomm in the U.S. from Oct. 27 to Nov. 7 as part of the Global K-start-up Program.

Six start-ups include Casual Steps, the developer of a mobile overseas direct purchase service and winner of this year's program Snapshot; Genoplan, developer of an app that predicts the probability of developing certain diseases with an analysis of genetic information and suggests prevention methods; FiveThirty, a developer of an educational paper-folding app; Notivo, an event notification service developer; Chocopepper, the company behind mobile game broadcasting platform GamChen Live; and Promisope, the company behind Hereiam, a social networking service for patients with incurable diseases.

After its establishment in 2010, the Global K-start-up Program selected 29 start-ups in 2012, 35 in 2013, and 39 this year. The program not only provides support for service development, but also nurtures selected companies to prepare for overseas expansion.

Thanks to this program, 56 out of 89 innovative ideas have materialized in the form of start-ups, and 40 services have been commercialized over the last four years. The program has also helped companies to attract investment worth 16.12 billion won (US$15.32 million) through investment briefings and networking with venture capital firms.