140 years of German-South Korean relationship – to mark the occasion, a four-day ecosystem trip to South Korea was organised by the Digital Hub Initiative of the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK). Six Digital Hubs were present, including ATHENE Digital Hub Cybersecurity, the Digital Hub in Darmstadt for applied cybersecurity, Digital Hub Logistics Hamburg, InsurLab Germany in Cologne mit Fokus which is actively committed to the digitisation of the insurance industry, the Berlin based Digital Hub IoT+ Network with a focus on the two topics Internet of Things (IoT) and FinTech, the Hub from Nuremberg ZOLLHOF which focusses on the fields of Digital Health, Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence, as well as the MediaTech Hub Potsdam.
The goal of this trip was to strengthen this relationship, and to more connect the startup ecosystems of the two countries more closer, but also to learn from each other. Among other things, they talked about how attractive it would be for startups to enter the German market and what role the hubs could play in this.
In addition, several key locations were visited, such as the Pangyo Techno Valley, an industrial complex of the city of Pangyo and hotspot for startups and companies from the region, or the Incheon Startup Park. There were meetings with the Global Digital Innovation Network, the South Korean Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) and the Korea Venture Investment Corporation, as well as a visit to the Hyundai Motor Group’s ZERO1NE Accelerator, where several startups pitched their business ideas.
Overall, the four days were extremely exciting and insightful. Many thanks to Germany Trade & Invest, RCKT and AHK Korea for organising this trip.
Here you can find some impressions:
