Busan Startup Ecosystem Highlights

Benchmarked against more than 50 ecosystems globally, Busan’s thriving startup scene ranks: 

• Top 15 Global Ecosystem for Knowledge 
• Top 20 Global Ecosystem for Affordable Talent 
• Created $161 million in Ecosystem Value 
• Tax incentives and strong infrastructure are cited as reasons a startup should move to Busan 
• Regional sub-sector strengths are Marine Tech and Smart Cities 
• More highlights can be found in the 2019 Global Startup Ecosystem Report 

Busan’s Major Startup Supporter 

Busan Center for Creative Economy and Innovation
The Center is a space of communication and exchanges for Busan’s creative economy. It functions as an ‘agit’ for aspiring entrepreneurs who dream of starting a business and a ‘stepping stone’ to make imagination into reality. It also plays as a ‘base camp’ for local early startups by providing exchange space for them. 

Major Players in Busan

Busan Economic Promotion Agency
A non-profit foundation established by Busan Metropolitan City and Small and Medium Business Administration to provide essential services required by small and medium-sized businesses and micro-enterprises of Busan, contributing to strengthening competitiveness and improving management conditions of companies located in Busan. 

Busan Techno Park
Contributing to the activation of the local economy and enhancing business's competitiveness by promoting the technological advance of local-specialized industries and supporting new technology-based startups based on cooperation among industrial, academic, research and governmental bodies in Busan. 

Busan IT Industry Promotion Agency
Contributing to job creation in Busan by providing customized IT/CT training and one-stop startup support services and developing self-sustainable networks. It also creates a productive startup ecosystem by delivering job creation programs in a systematic way. 

Startups to Know in Busan 

Doctor’s Fab
Doctor’s Fab‘s sole mission is to “Care the Uncared." They help hospitals and their medical staff members to have easier and faster access to important medical data that are often under the blind spot of management. A smart, medical device powered by strength in IoT and AI technology. 

CIOT
CIOT provides solutions to address the challenges of Identity and Access Management for the Internet of Things (IOT) without human intervention. They help their customers and partners simplify the process of establishing trust for the IOT, enabling end-to-end security architecture and scale for the IOT through an innovative technology platform. 

Busan Startup Technology Leaders

Jaewon Peter Chun
Although the actual developer of Busan Smart City is K-Water (Korea Water Resources Corporation), the master plan of this project is led by Mr. Jaewon Peter Chun, the National Smart City Master Planner from the Presidential Committee on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, also the CEO of XNTree, a British accelerator supporting Fintech and smart city tech companies. Mr. Chun has many years of experience of training startups in the Fintech and smart city sector. Among them, 13 startups have become a unicorn which has its value of more than 1 billion USD. 

Brian Kim
Brian Kim is the General Manager of Busan Center for Creative Economy & Innovation. He is working in the field of Korea startup ecosystem serving as a hub that creates a link among central-local governments, local industries, universities and startups on global acceleration programs in relation to entrepreneurship. He also organizes the Bounce Busan which is an annual and global startup conference at Busan International Startup Festival. 

Get Involved in Busan’s Growing Tech Scene

Feel like you’re missing out? Get more involved in the Busan startup ecosystem! Become a Startup Genome Ambassador and write about Busan and help to organize the ecosystem! Please get in touch.