The 3rd annual Asia Startup Festival, “Fly Asia 2024,” wrapped up with great success, attracting over 15,000 attendees.

Held from October 1-2 at Bexco in Busan, the event saw participation from over 600 domestic and international startup representatives, 400 investors, and a total of 15,000 visitors.

This year’s festival offered a wide range of programs related to investment and startups, including the opening ceremony, scale-up round and meetups, global pavilion, conferences, awards, open innovation sessions, exhibitions, and partnerships with events like “Bounce,” “ComeUp,” and “Festival Shiwol.”

During the opening ceremony on October 1, Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon gave a keynote speech, outlining Busan’s strengths as a global hub and his vision to make the city more startup-friendly. He highlighted the creation of substantial startup funding, a professional support system through the Busan Startup Promotion Agency, the development of innovative infrastructure, and support for overseas expansion.

Following Mayor Park’s remarks, Fatou Haidara, Deputy Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), delivered a keynote on “Global ESG Industry Trends and the Role of Startups,” aligning with this year’s central theme of ESG.

This year’s festival was also expanded into a major business collaboration platform, drawing in experts from leading Korean and global companies, investors, promising startups, and startup support organizations. Over 1,000 tailored one-on-one meetings took place between more than 400 domestic and international investors and startups, with major investors like CDIB Capital Group, Vina Capital, and Smilegate Investment in attendance. Additionally, 40 large corporations, including Lotte, SK C&C, LG Electronics, Samsung Heavy Industries, and Hyundai Heavy Industries, participated in the “Open Innovation” program.

Other key activities included pitch events and demo days hosted by Korea Development Bank, IBK Changgong, D.Camp, and the Korea Financial Investment Association, as well as B2B meetings organized by the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency. The event also featured LP (limited partner) and VC (venture capital) forums, including a briefing on the “Busan Future Growth Fund” by Korea Venture Investment Corp., which presented fund-raising opportunities and strategies while enhancing networking and collaboration between key investment institutions.

The festival’s global presence was strengthened by a global pavilion featuring 41 organizations from six countries, as well as support for 23 foreign startup teams exploring opportunities in Busan, further cementing its status as a premier global event.

Since its launch in 2022, the Asia Startup Festival has focused on building a collaborative network among Asian startup cities to achieve shared growth. This year, the event expanded the global pavilion, bringing together 41 organizations from six countries—Indonesia, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and Vietnam—to share global expansion insights.

In addition, new and expanded programs were introduced to support the growth of regional startups in Korea, creating a positive feedback loop that brings tangible benefits to local companies. Sixty-one regional innovative companies participated, including booths from CES and the Korea Startup Forum’s Southeast Region, offering numerous investment and networking opportunities.

Notably, this year’s event also featured “ComeUp in Busan,” a pre-event for Korea’s largest startup festival, “ComeUp 2024.”

Mayor Park Heong-joon remarked, “This year, Busan has laid a solid foundation to become an ‘Asian Startup Platform City’ and a ‘Global Hub City’ by securing large-scale funds, developing innovation infrastructure, and approving the establishment of professional startup institutions. With this momentum, ‘Fly Asia’ will continue to expand, serving as a key platform for global startup ecosystem exchanges and a driving force for future initiatives.”