How Seoul courts founders with funding programs

Tokyo “German Startup Night” flickers across displays in a hall in South Korea’s capital Seoul. Mabel Fu, head of the German Accelerator in Asia, is at the front of the stage and introduces the seven young entrepreneurs who have come from Germany.

From Singapore, Fu manages the activities of the start-up program financed by the Federal Ministry of Economics. The hall is full. 90 guests came, investors, representatives from other private and state start-up sponsors, government agencies and large Korean corporations. It is the first major show of this kind for young German entrepreneurs in the East Asian high-tech nation. Fu sees a lot of potential in the country. “Seoul’s scene is developing fast and already has many startups.”