SYP announced that it successfully completed the ‘Super Gap Startup 1000+ Relay IR’ program, held from January 10 to 14 in Silicon Valley and San Francisco, effectively connecting the U.S. innovation ecosystem with promising deep-tech startups from Korea.

The program featured a wide range of practical activities aimed at supporting Korean startups' entry into the U.S. market. These included the Silicon Valley IR Demo Day hosted at the Plug and Play Tech Center, the Cerebral Valley AI Meetup, lectures by local legal and investment experts, and visits to Google headquarters and the Mind the Bridge headquarters.

The Silicon Valley IR Demo Day began with a congratulatory speech by Seong-Seob Kim, Vice Minister of SMEs and Startups, and focused on pitching by Super Gap startups, networking with local investors, and collaboration with companies. Participants included major U.S. corporations such as Western Digital and Rivian, unicorn companies like Skydio, and tech agents in the medical device and automotive sectors, all of which showed strong interest in Korean innovative deep-tech startups.

A total of 10 Korean startups in fields such as biotech, artificial intelligence, and eco-friendly energy participated in the program:

▲ YouthBio Global ▲Medicos Biotech ▲Ringle English Education ▲Infopla ▲TheWaveTalk ▲Voinoss ▲Huject ▲S-Alpha Therapeutics ▲InterX ▲NanoGenesis

The Cerebral Valley AI Meetup included keynote speeches by Shailesh Nalawadi, Head of Product at Sendbird, and Yoon Kim, CSO of Twelve Labs. The event also featured reverse pitching by U.S. AI companies such as Databricks and Zendesk, pitching sessions by six Cerebral Valley-based AI startups and the 10 Super Gap startups, and networking opportunities. Attendees included tech agents from Apple and Google, local AI unicorns like Groq, and investors, facilitating active discussions about business collaboration and U.S. market entry. 

This program demonstrated Korea’s commitment to strengthening the global competitiveness of its startup ecosystem. According to SYP, the initiative aims to build a bridge between Korean innovative startups and global markets, fostering sustainable growth.

Sungwook Hong, CEO of SYP and the event’s host, stated, “SYP is at the forefront of supporting the global expansion of Korean startups as a global accelerator specializing in AI and deep-tech, amid the intensifying global AI competition. We are already planning the next steps for global entry programs.”

Meanwhile, SYP has successfully held Relay IR events in major cities such as Singapore, Tokyo, Dubai, and Berlin this year, actively supporting the global expansion of Korean startups.

Source: Korea Economic Daily / Herald Economy