South Korea is a thriving startup hub, and Seoul is the country’s central breeding ground for innovation. Seoul ranked #11 among 130 cities in the Global Financial Centres Index 34, which evaluates worldwide financial competitiveness. Foreign direct investment in South Korea increased 7.5% in 2023 to an all-time high of $32.7 billion, driven by the strong performance of the chip, battery, and transportation sectors. In 2023, VC investments reached $8.4 billion, with investors and the government of Korea creating a $6.2 billion venture fund for local startups by 2025. The Seoul Vision 2030 Fund is a $4.22 billion fund dedicated to enabling global startup growth.

In 2023, Seoul Metropolitan Government opened the Seoul Startup Hub Scale-up Center, the first hub in the region to focus on investment exchange for private investors, accelerators, and startups. The city government also announced it would build the Seoul Unicorn Startup Hub with the goal of creating 50 unicorns by 2030 and a long-term plan to set up 10 startup support centers around the world by 2026. The continuous expansion of such infrastructure is greatly aiding the sustained activation of the startup ecosystem in Seoul.

The inaugural Try Everything 2023 conference was held in Seoul in September to promote Korea’s startup ecosystem to the world. Seoul AI Innovation Tour 2024 took place in March. Seoul 2024 Venture Capital World Summit was held in February. AI startup OKESTRO raised $112 million over two rounds, including a December 2023 Series B. Ecommerce company Rapport Labs raised $64.3 million over six rounds, including a July 2023 Series B.