The Korea Venture Business Association (KOVA) said Thursday it held the "2nd Venture and Startup Growth Forum" at the National Assembly Members' Office Building in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul.
The forum was co-organized by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the office of Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kim Dong-a, KOVA, and the Korea Startup Forum. The event was designed to examine difficulties faced by ventures and startups in the field and connect them to legislative and institutional reform tasks, as competition in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry rapidly shifts from a focus on technology development to commercialization and market preemption.
The second forum discussed in greater detail the structural constraints emerging during the commercialization process of AI ventures and startups, as well as support tasks at each stage of growth. Discussions centered on problems that AI ventures and startups actually face in their business operations, including data utilization, infrastructure access, talent acquisition, and early-stage market creation, with on-the-ground assessments and policy response directions presented.
Presentations at the forum covered opportunities and innovation challenges for ventures and startups in the AI era, field-level difficulties of AI ventures and startups, and the current state of talent acquisition and related policy tasks for AI startups. In the discussion session that followed, Lim Jae-won, CEO of Gopizza, Bang Geul-a, director of Bone AI, and Yoon Dong-yeol, professor at Konkuk University, participated and shared the difficulties felt in the field and the need for policy improvements.
Lawmaker Kim Dong-a, who attended the forum, stressed, "I will concentrate all legislative capacity on building a venture-centered innovation ecosystem so that Korea can leap forward as a powerhouse in AI commercialization." Kim Han-gyu, also a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker, said, "I will do my best to ensure that the government's interest and policies toward the venture and startup sector translate into tangible results."
