The Korea International Trade Association (KITA) hosted the “Korea-Germany Startup Open Innovation Week” in Berlin, Germany, starting on September 4th. This comprehensive program aimed to support the expansion of Korean startups into the European market and foster collaboration between startups and investors from Korea and Germany.

Coinciding with “IFA 2024,” Europe’s largest consumer electronics exhibition, the event featured various initiatives, including the Korea-Germany CVC-Startup Open Innovation Summit, the KITA Startup Pavilion, the “K-IR Reception” where German investors were invited to hear pitches from Korean startups, and visits to European innovation hubs with networking opportunities.

KITA set up a joint booth for Korean startups within IFA Next, a dedicated startup zone at the event, showcasing the products and technologies of 10 Korean startups recognized for their strengths in AI, digital health, drones, and more. Participating companies included Virnect (XR), Pablo Air (drones), Welt (healthcare), Bitsensing (wellness radar), Wrtn Technologies (generative AI), Organoid Sciences (bio), Join and Join (functional food), Parallel Space (3D reconstruction), Marketons (tangible holograms), and Tround (sound-based XR).

The event also featured the “K-IR Reception,” a pitching and networking session aimed at introducing Korean startups to German corporates and investors. The “Korea-Germany CVC Open Innovation Summit” brought together major corporate venture capital (CVC) firms and startups from both countries to explore collaborative growth opportunities.

As the organizer of “NextRise,” Asia’s largest startup event, KITA signed a strategic MOU with IFA to connect global startup platforms and promote ongoing collaboration for commercializing innovative technologies between Korea and Germany.

Lee In-ho, Vice Chairman of KITA, was the only Korean invited as a speaker at the IFA conference, where he delivered a lecture on “Trade Driven by Innovation: New Paths of Economic Exchange Between Korea and Germany.” His presentation covered Korea-Germany trade and economic cooperation, the need to link the startup ecosystems of both countries, leveraging open innovation among large corporations, mid-sized companies, and startups, and joint strategies to address global challenges such as supply chain disruptions and ESG concerns.

Vice Chairman Lee stated, “This event was designed to create business and investment opportunities between Korean and German investors and startups, and to explore new global trade pathways through innovative technologies.” He added, “KITA plans to name Germany as the guest country for next year’s NextRise exhibition to continue strengthening startup collaboration between the two nations.”