Gyeongsangnamdo Hosts GSAT 2024: Elevating Local Entrepreneurship and Collaboration Nationwide

Gyeongsangnamdo Hosts GSAT 2024: Elevating Local Entrepreneurship and Collaboration Nationwide

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Gyeongsangnamdo of Korea, is set to host the Global Convergence Startup Festival ‘GSAT 2024‘ at the Changwon Convention Center from April 1st to 3rd.

Gyeongsangnamdo aims to foster a balanced regional startup ecosystem by integrating service-based non-manufacturing sectors with its mainstay, manufacturing. This initiative marks the province’s inaugural startup festival, designed to stand out from existing entrepreneurial events.

The acronym ‘GSAT’ symbolizes Gyeongnam’s commitment to leading the activation of global technology entrepreneurship through the integration of science and cultural arts, encapsulating Gyeongnam/Growth/Global, Science, Art, and Technology.

Mirroring global startup events like South by Southwest (SXSW) in the USA and VIVA-TECH in France, GSAT aims to unify the manufacturing and non-manufacturing startup ecosystems. It is designed to showcase the present and future of local entrepreneurship under the motif of ‘first and best’, thus fostering a culture of innovation.

The G-Stage will serve as the main venue for keynote speeches and lectures across four areas: aerospace, media content, digital manufacturing, and bio-healthcare. The event will feature insights from leading experts and notable figures who are unparalleled in domestic startup events, offering future trends and personal experiences within their respective fields.

Keynote speaker David A. Mindell, an MIT professor and aerospace robotics expert who has served as a researcher for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and an advisor to NASA, will share invaluable advice on the growth and initiation of aerospace ventures in Gyeongnam and Korea.

The lecture series will include presentations by distinguished international scholars, such as Dylan Jones, Director of Boeing‘s Korea Technology Center; Chris Anderson, former editor of the academic journals Nature and Science; and Reed Tuckson, recognized as one of the ‘Top 50 Most Influential Physician Executives’ and an authority on U.S. health policy.

In addition to lectures, talk concerts will feature a range of speakers, including a YouTuber with a million subscribers known as ‘Orbit’, comedian and resource recycling entrepreneur Jang Dong-min, and neuroscientist Jang Dong-sun. These sessions are intended to enhance audience understanding and add depth and enjoyment to each topic.

The opening and closing ceremonies will be conducted in a talk show format. The opening ceremony will include discussions related to the event, featuring the governor of Gyeongnam, Park Wan-soo, foreign speakers, and guests from the startup and planning sectors, alternating between the main and a standing stage for opening declarations and congratulatory remarks.

The closing ceremony will focus on the participants, including a pre-event award ceremony for the ‘G-Startup Convergence League’ and encore presentations by the winning teams. This will be followed by a talk show with foreign speakers, organizers, and representatives of startup companies, culminating in a closing performance.

The ‘Open Innovation and Exhibition’ segment will involve about 140 companies, offering an opportunity for mutual growth between conglomerates and startups through engagements with the world’s foremost technologies.

Open innovation will proceed as leading local conglomerates with top-tier global competitiveness in technology propose collaborative projects. Startups, in turn, will engage in various forms of cooperation, including technology development and market exploration, to foster mutual advancement.

In particular, many leading mid-sized enterprises in the advanced manufacturing sector, a key industry of the region, are currently seeking collaboration partners. This is expected to offer a variety of growth opportunities to startups both locally and nationwide.

At the S-Stage, the ‘G-Startup Convergence League,’ an entrepreneurship contest, will be held to present startup ideas spanning both manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors and to support the growth of entrepreneurs. In January, the contest attracted over 200 teams of entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs from across the country, marking the highest competition rate among national entrepreneurship contests. By February, 20 teams were selected to advance to the finals, where they will undergo a short-term nurturing process, including hackathons and expert consultations, until the end of March.

During the event, the final competition will select four teams to award up to KRW 20 million in prize money, along with the opportunity for an encore presentation during the closing ceremony. Participants will also have the opportunity to collaborate with attending mid-sized companies and startups.

To foster student entrepreneurship, a separate University League targeting local college students will also be held. This initiative aims to support students in realizing their entrepreneurial dreams with their startup ideas, creating an inclusive entrepreneurial culture that leaves no generation behind.

To stimulate growth in the relatively slow-developing web-based content industry, a special Cultural Content Exhibition will be organized.

The Cultural Content Exhibition, led by People&Story, renowned for ‘Siren’, a long-standing number one in the Naver Webtoon category, will feature companies from various non-manufacturing technology fields such as gaming, drones, exhibition planning, and augmented reality (AR). It aims to welcome entrepreneurs, investors, and visitors interested in these sectors.

Additionally, various experience zones, including virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) experiences, as well as goods and character creation workshops, will be operated to increase visitors’ curiosity and interest in entrepreneurship within the content sector, encouraging investment and capital influx for growth.

Significantly, entrepreneurship support organizations from across the country, including those from Gyeongnam Province, will participate directly in the event’s preparation and operation. This marks the first instance of nationwide entrepreneurship institutions directly participating in and operating a local entrepreneurship event.

During the event, investment presentation programs such as ‘KDB Next Round in Gyeongnam’ by the Korea Development Bank (KDB), ‘GoVenture IR’ by the Korea Agricultural Technology Promotion Agency, and ‘Angel Club Joint IR’ by the Gyeongnam Angel Investors Association will be held to connect investment demand between the capital region and local areas.

Moreover, programs like the ‘Entrepreneurial Spirit Round Table’ (Venture Enterprise Association) and ‘Startup Forum’ (Changwon City) will share the knowledge and experience of successful entrepreneurs and address the concerns of various entrepreneurs. The ‘Relay Bonfire Talk’ (Korea Accelerator Association) will also take place, introducing their own nurturing programs and investment strategies, providing startups with the opportunity to diagnose and improve their investment attraction methods.

Lee Jae-hoon, Director of the Gyeongsangnamdo’s Startup Support Division, stated, “This event, symbolizing ‘The Year of Spreading Startup Culture in 2024,’ has been differentiated from existing entrepreneurship events by incorporating the concepts of ‘First and Best’ throughout. We hope this event will continue to connect the local and national, and even global, entrepreneurship ecosystems, enhancing the region’s capabilities and spreading the local entrepreneurial culture.” This highlights the event’s significance and the intention to establish it as a regular occurrence.

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