PRESS RELEASE
No.	PR/22-13	Date	Oct. 18, 2022
Contact	Program Inquiries: Jin Yongbak, Assistant Officer, TIU (+82-2-2287-1125, ybjin@aseankorea.org)Press Inquiries: Kim Hyun-ji, Senior Officer, IDU (02-2287-1143, hjk@aseankorea.org)
ASEAN-Korea Centre is an International Organization mandated to promote economic and socio-cultural cooperation between ASEAN Member States and Korea.

ASEAN-Korea Centre hosts pitching contest for ASEAN Startups in search of next unicorns

- ASEAN-Korea Centre to host the ASEAN-Korea Startup Week Pitching Contest (Oct. 19 - 20) -

- 27 startups from 10 ASEAN Member States to participate -

Seoul, Korea - The ASEAN-Korea Centre (Secretary General Kim Hae-yong) is organizing the “ASEAN-Korea Startup Week”, an online pitching contest for ASEAN startups on October 19-20. 27 promising early-stage startups from the 10 ASEAN Member States have been selected to take part in the event. Hosted by the Centre since 2018, the program aims to strengthen the network between ASEAN and Korean startups and facilitate investment opportunities for ASEAN startups.

For the fifth installment of the program, the ASEAN-Korea Centre organized a new 2-week Acceleration Program (September 19-30) for the participating ASEAN startups which provided a platform for ASEAN startups to share innovative ideas, meet potential business partners, and engage in capacity building activities. The Acceleration Program was developed and executed in cooperation with Born2Global, an agency under the Ministry of Science and ICT that specializes in accelerating and incubating startups for global expansion. Topics covered during the program include market segmentation and pricing, human resource management, marketing strategy, legal strategy, and pitching training. These contents were delivered through lectures, group sessions, as well as individual mentoring sessions. The program also provided an opportunity for the startups to have business meetings and engage with companies in Korea.

27 startups nominated by ASEAN Embassies in Korea and ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (ACCMSME) from a variety of sectors including education; health data; fintech solutions; and blockchain will pitch their business ideas to venture capitalists from Korea and abroad. The winner of the Pitching Contest will be awarded 30,000 USD and will also be invited by the ASEAN-Korea Centre to attend NextRise (Korea’s largest startup exhibition) in 2023. The pitching sessions will be streamed live via the ASEAN-Korea Centre’s YouTube Channel (http://www.youtube.com/akcsns).

ASEAN is home to about 650 million people where the average population age stands at 31.2 years. COVID-19 has helped to expand widespread internet access in the region, including for e-commerce activities, while the availability of business-friendly policies has also attracted a large volume of investment capital thus, creating a rich startup ecosystem. The Korean government is also contributing to the growth potential of ASEAN startups by forming startup partnerships in ASEAN and executing inter-governmental programs annually, while there is also a growing interest by Korean investors towards ASEAN startups.Information on the participating ASEAN startups, and the program in general can be found on the official website (www.aseankoreastartupweek.com).