The Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and Startups will send a 'K-Startup' delegation to the largest startup exhibition in Europe, 'VivaTech 2025', held from the 11th to the 14th (local time) at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles in France.
According to the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and Startups, VivaTech is a startup and innovation technology exhibition held annually since 2016 by the French economic daily Le Journal du Dimanche and the advertising and public relations agency Publicis Groupe. It is expected that over 165,000 visitors and approximately 13,500 startups from around the world will attend 'VivaTech 2025'.
Since Korea was selected as 'Country of the Year' at last year's VivaTech 2023, the Ministry has been sending a 'K-Startup' delegation to VivaTech every year to showcase the innovative technologies of K-Startups in the European market.
This year, the Ministry will collaborate with domestic startup support organizations such as the Korea Startup Promotion Agency, the Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Corporation, the Gyeonggi Creation Economy Innovation Center, and the Seoul AI Hub to operate the 'K-Startup Integrated Pavilion' within the VivaTech exhibition hall and assist 26 promising startups in participating. Corporations participating in the 'K-Startup Integrated Pavilion' will receive support such as pre-training, customized business matching, and local networking.
Additionally, networking events and business presentations to attract investment will be held during VivaTech, with participation from local French investors, accelerators, and media companies to aid the participating startups in creating achievements.
Shim Jae-yoon, head of the Startup Policy Division, noted, 'VivaTech is a great opportunity for our corporations to validate their innovative technologies in the European market and expand global partnership opportunities,' adding, 'The Ministry will support K-Startups to actively enter the European market using VivaTech as a foothold.'