After a special VC session on May 3, Korea’s largest startup and tech conference “beLAUNCH 2013,” which opened on May 1, closed with applause.
Hosted by beSUCCESS, a startup venture specialized media, the event was an international event attended by entrepreneurs, investors, and experts from both domestic and foreign startups and technology sectors, including Korea, New York, Europe, and Asia, and was a venue where news of the startup ecosystem was provided for each session. It was also a venue where the government, businesses, and startups had in-depth discussions on how to coexist. During the three days when the event was held, 1,500 people (estimated) from startups and IC sectors from around the world, including Japan and China, participated in the event.
The following are some of the panellists and speakers for this year’s beLAUNCH 2013.
Chairman Evernote Phil Libin, CEO Park Jae-wook (VCNC), CEO Kim Dong-shin (Smile Family Inc), CEO Roh Jung-seok (Ablar Company), CEO Kim Bong-jin (WoowaBrothers, Baemin), co-chairmen Bae Ki-hong (Strong Ventures), Director Kang Seok-heun (BonAngels), Kingsley Wood Business Development Manager (Amazon Web Services), and CEO Son En-gang (CapStone Partners), CEO Lee Hee-woo (IDG Ventures), CEO Ryu Joong-hee (Olaworks), CEO Ha Hyung-seok (memebox), CEO Yasuhiko Yurimoto (GlobalBrain), Han Kim General Partner (Altos Ventures), Eric Kim Managing Director (Maverick Capital), CEO Lee Suk-woo (Kakao), Vice President Hong Eun-taek (Kakao), CEO Bae Ki-sik (Ridibooks), Director Song Young-sook (Kyobobook), CEO Im Jung-min (RocketOz), CEO Lim Jung-woong (Sundaytoz), CEO Lee Chang-soo (5Rocks), and President of Mobile Units dep. Kim Dong-hyun (Daum), CEO Willis Wee (TechInAsia), CEO Masaru Ikeda(Sd Japan), CEO Gwendolyn Regina T (SGentreperneurs), CEO Cho Sang-rae (Platum), President Ken Wilcox (Silicon Valley Bank), CEO Kim Bum-suk (Coupang), CEO Em Jae-hoon (TransLink Capital), CEO Jeong Se-joo (Noom), CEO Christine Tsai (500 Startups), CEO Soujanya Bhumkar (CoolIris), CEO Kim Chang-won (Tapas Media), CEO Cho Kyu-min (BITAMIN), CEO Aviram Jenik (Beyond Security), CEO Yang Joon-chul (Onoffmix), director of the office Lee Jung-sin (Samsung SDS, Open Innovation), Sector chief Choi Bo-geun (Ministry of Culture and Tourism), President Ko Young-ha (GoVenture), Prof. Kim Jin-young (KAIST), CEO Aviram Jenik (Beyond Security), CEO David Lee (Kstartup), Co-CEO Bernard Moon (Vidquik), Partner Ben Levy (BootstrapsLab), Business Development manager Kingsley Wood (Amazon Web Services), Jr. Team Leader Park Sang-won (KISED), CEO Richard Choo (K-POP United & MJ Partners), CEO Jeff Clavier (SoftTech).
Also, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yoo Jin-ryong delivered a keynote speech and Chung Mong-joon, honorary chairman of the Asan Nanum Foundation, raised the status of the event as giving a congratulatory speech.
At the event, a “startup booth” that provided substantial publicity to startups was set up in the lobby of the venue to ensure internal results. At these booths, some 60 startup and startup support groups in various fields, including education, health, security, and games, promoted the service, while networking between startups took place. Event elements such as Asia’s largest startup showcase “Startup Battle” was also held.
The beLAUNCH, which was designed based on the know-how of the beSUCCESS team, started with the beLAUNCH 2012 last year, followed by the additional beLAUNCH TOKYO and the beLAUNCH INDIA this year, and became the highlight of this year’s beLAUNCH 2013.
“The event was not built on our own power,” said Jung Hyun-wook, the CEO of beSUCCESS. “It was possible because a lot of people at home and abroad helped it as it is their jobs. With this opportunity, we will try to develop a program that can be internally strong, promote competent domestic startups abroad, and support them to make a soft landing in overseas markets.”
