*Going Global: Tips from Launchpad Overseas Partners

Six international accelerators from the United States, Japan, Singapore, 
France, the Middle East, and Finland have been participating in Launchpad, a 
global accelerating program operated by the Korea Creative Content 
Agency(https://www.kocca.kr/en/main.do), since June. Launchpad was first 
started in 2017 as a project to support Korean content startups' overseas 
expansion step by step. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, it has switched to an 
online program since last year and has focused on 1:1 consulting and business 
matching through its own platform. This year, in particular, the startups that 
were evaluated and selected directly by local accelerators will get funds and 
close mentoring for localization.

Accelerators will help the startups enter each regional market: Mind The Bridge 
for U.S. and Europe, Creative Valley for France, Maria01 for Finland, Shorooq 
Partners for the Middle East, Awesome Ventures for Singapore, and 01Booster for 
Japan.

"The strength of Korean startups is their technical prowess."

Choi Seong-an, head of Mind The Bridge, and Yann Gozlan, CEO of Creative 
Valley, who has a lot of experience in supporting Korean startups' overseas 
expansion, remarked that Korean content startups are now technologically 
competitive in the global market, citing their qualitative growth as well. 
Compared to the past, technology-based companies such as AI and machine 
learning have increased.

"The metaverse market is currently growing in Japan," said Takeru Kawashima, 
the director of 01Booster. "Korea has a history of MMORPG games, an early 
version of the metaverse, and thus has technical expertise in this field. It 
will be able to attract the attention of Japanese companies."

Ville Simola, CEO of Maria 01, also explained, "Gaming and entertainment 
industry is very promising in Finland." He said, "When considering the 
environmental factors, Korean content companies will be able to settle down 
well with their technological strengths."

These accelerators emphasized the importance of product/market fit and language 
skills in overseas expansion. They didn't forget to mention that it is 
necessary to understand cultural differences.

Meanwhile, the final teams for the Launchpad program are in the process of 
business matching through regional accelerating and customized support for each 
company. After the demo day in mid-November, they will focus on securing 
commercialization funds for localization and overseas expansion in early 
December.
 

SOURCE: Korea Creative Content Agency


Image Attachments Links:

   Link: https://iop.asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=405251

   Caption: LAUNCHPAD is a global program designed to help Korean content 
startups' overseas expansion in 6 countries, including US, Japan, Singapore, 
France, Finland and UAE