By Diplomacy Journal Lee Kap-soo
Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) delegation, led by Smt. Aarti Bhatnagar, Additional Secretary and Financial Adviser (AS&FA) (Deputy Minister) participated in the COMEUP 2024 Startup Festival held at Seoul from 11-12 December 2024.
Deputy Minister was accompanied with representatives from DPIIT, Startup India Team and participating members from Indian startups.
During the inaugural event of COMEUP 2024, Minister of SMEs and Startups Young-ju Oh visited the Indian booths and saw the presentation by the Indian startup Krypton AI which is working on cutting edge AI, automatic and IoT to meet the needs of large industries by providing smart, connected and integrated systems that enhance operational efficiency, security and data-driver decision making such as traffic management and radiation monitoring.
The delegation also met Deputy Minister Jung Wook Lim in the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and discussed potential collaboration opportunities.
H.E. Amit Kumar, Ambassador of India to the Republic of Korea met the delegation and apprised them about the Embassy’s efforts to promote cooperation with the Republic of Korea in the field of startups, and potential opportunities for collaboration.
The delegation visited the Global Startup Center in TIPS Town, Gangnam, Seoul, and Pangyo Techno Valley in Gyeonggi Province. They also met Mr. Bonhi Gu, Commissioner of Invest Seoul under the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Ms. Yul Zang, Team Leader at the Korea Social Investment Foundation to understand best practices followed in RoK to promote innovation and entrepreneurship.
Some of the participating Indian startups in the COMEUP 2024 included Avataar Skincare in the health-tech sector which had a woman founder and is committed to providing innovative and high-quality skincare solution at home. Others being Predulive Labs focussing on AI-driver drones, professional training and data-analytics and its primary offering includes AVIX DIY drone which enables practical experience in drone assembly and functionality. ASPIRE is an ‘employee growth’ startup that specializes in improving workplaces by instilling ‘micro habits’ in the employees. Bversity is a hybrid college for biosciences focusing on industry-focused masters degree program. Other Indian participants included Circle FC, Hana Advisors etc.
The Indian side invited RoK government and startups to participate in the India’s Startup festival, the “Startup Mahakumbh 2025” being scheduled to be held at New Delhi from 4-6 April 2025.
