To provide startups and SMEs with a venue for pitching and meeting
First pitching session for four domestic startups on the occasion of the opening ceremony
On January 30, the KOTRA Pitching Lounge in which startups and SMEs can conduct pitching or briefing sessions for domestic and foreign investors was opened. About 30 attendees including members of the Korea Foreign Company Association (FORCA), domestic and foreign investors, as well as individuals related to startups participated in the opening ceremony.
KOTRA established the Pitching Lounge within the country's first exclusive incubating facility for foreign investors called Invest KOREA Plaza (IKP) to help startups and SMEs freely communicate and connect with domestic and foreign investors, which is vital for their global expansion.
* Inquiries and applications shall be directed to: KOTRA Investment Strategy Team (Email: ikp@kotra.or.kr, ☎ 02-3497-1005)
The KOTRA Pitching Lounge spans 184 sq. meters, consisting of a main pitching room and three meeting rooms. The main pitching room is about 70 sq. meters big, equipped with 30 seats, an 86-inch wide display, and a 150-inch electric roll-up projection screen. A presenter is able to face the audience thanks to a 43-inch monitor installed on the opposite side of the room. In the meeting rooms, a virtual meeting system makes meetings with overseas investors possible in real-time.
The Pitching Lounge will be available for not only a real-life pitching, but also for practice, as well as Investor Relations (IR) sessions of local governments and related organizations. The Lounge will serve as the infrastructure for domestic companies to attract foreign investment and enter global markets, in such ways as connecting them to Invest Korea Market Place (IKMP) services.
* Invest Korea Market Place (IKMP): For the growth of Korean companies' business home and abroad, preemptively identify and support projects that hope to attract investment from global investors.
Along with the opening ceremony, four companies selected by IKMP pitched to investors. △ JS Mechanic, a manufacturer specializing in slewing ring bearings, aspiring to be a construction and machinery part provider △ SuPine Therapeutics, developing a medicine that induces regeneration of spinal nerve△ Grip that is specialized in building smart home, smart campus and smart building utilizing Internet of Things △ FiveGT specialized in facial recognition technology capable of discerning the faces of twins within 0.5 seconds.
KOTRA President Kwon Pyung-oh said, "We hope Korean startups and SMEs actively take advantage of the Pitching Lounge to take a leap forward toward globalization and innovation."
Source : Invest KOREA (January 31, 2019.)