The Institute for Startup KAIST (ISK) hosted its annual KAIST ISK Forum 2016 on the subject of “Start-ups in Asia”. The forum was held in both the Daejeon Campus and the ISK Center in Pangyo on November 1 and October 31, respectively.

The forum had been initiated with the mission of “nurturing entrepreneurial culture, creating ecosystem for startups, and helping Korean startups go global.” Now in its third year, it includes presentations from notable speakers, panel discussions, and opportunities to interact with people in the field of entrepreneurship and startups.

This year’s event was decorated with many professionals from the global arena. They discussed their contribution to the growth and development of startups and present views on kindling the startup movement in Korea.

First to present was Benjamin Joffe, a Partner at HAX, which is an accelerator leading the area of hardware investment. Joffe himself is known as an angel investor; he gave a lecture on the subject of “How Hardware Can Change Your Life: The Age of Global Hardware Startups.”

Next in line was Dr. Koji Osawa, the managing director and co-founder of Global Catalyst Partners (GCP). Established in 1999, GCP is a venture capital fund that primarily invests in developing IT companies. Dr. Osawa, with extensive experience in business and investment in tech companies in Japan and US, talked about “Up-to-date Japanese Start-ups.”

Third, Ronald Yu, founder and CEO of PKLOT, a widely-used parking app in Taiwan, invited us to “Be Bold to Fight with Failure” while sharing his experiences in entrepreneurship.

Subsequently, two separate speakers presented at each location. In the Daejeon Campus, Director of Startup Alliance Jung Wook Lim presented on the “Growing Startup Ecosystem in Korea.” Startup Alliance is a non-profit organization to foster a Korean startup ecosystem by connecting entrepreneurs, startups, companies, and the government. In Pangyo, Head of Growth at SendBird Mark Lee shared his insights through the topic of “From Korea to Global - Why We’re Silicon Valley First and How We are Winning It.” SendBird is a chat and messaging API provider for mobile and web services based in San Francisco.

Lastly, Founder and CEO of CAPBRIDGE Dr. Steven Fang gave a lecture on the “Seed to Exit with Innovative Funding Approach; a Singapore Experience.” With over 20 years of experience in business development and management, Dr. Fang shared his accrued knowledge on the issue.

Further information is available at iskforum.kaist.ac.kr.