Korea will be participating as the ‘Country of the Year’ among top partnerships and promoting Korean start-ups at Viva Technology 2023, a start-up event to be held in France this June. This partnership was announced in an official press conference of Viva Technology 2023 in France, Minister of SMEs and Startups LEE Young responded with a video congratulatory speech.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that Korea has entered into a partnership as the ‘Country of the Year’ with Viva Technology 2023, the biggest start-up event in Europe. This partnership is entered into with only one country in the world.

The partnership was officially announced by the organizer at the Viva Technology press conference in Paris.

Held since 2016, Viva Technology is the largest start-up event in Europe. This year, the event is specially operated in a hybrid online-offline format with various programmes. Start-ups will have the opportunity to participate with offline booth exhibitions, conferences, and pitching opportunities, as well as online promotion opportunities (e-booth).

The ‘Country of the Year’ partnership signed by VivaTech and Korea is a top-level partnership established in 2022. ‘Country of the Year’ Korea, along with participating Korean start-ups will be given the opportunity to take part in exhibitions, give the keynote speech, and participate in major programmes, as well as pitching and active media promotion opportunities.

In particular, Korea’s ‘K-Startup Integration Pavilion,’ together with Viva Technology’s founding partners(BNP Paribas, Google, La Poste, LVMH, Orange, etc.), will be installed at the center of the main hall.

About 30 Korean startups and SMEs will participate in Viva Technology 2023, and the ‘Country of the Year’ partnership will give Korean startups and SMEs seeking to enter the European market more opportunities for business promotion, programme participation, investor meetings, and networking.

Minister LEE Young gave a congratulatory speech, responding to the announcement of the partnership at the official Viva Technology press conference in France.

In her congratulatory remarks, the Minister discussed the start-up ecosystem of ‘Seoul, which ranks 10th among 280 cities in the world in terms of start-up ecosystems, as well as the Republic of Korea, which ranks 10th in terms of unicorn companies in the world.’ LEE also described the Korean government’s policies that actively foster Korean start-up growth in the global market.

LEE added, “We hope that these opportunities will enhance the status of K-startups, as we have similarly seen in the rise of K-pop and K-dramas.”