Courses & Events
Entrepreneurial Ecosystem of Korea
Thursday, Oct 9, 2014
04:15 pm - 05:30 pm
Entrepreneurial Ecosystem of Korea: New Trends in Acceleration and Internationalization
Following an overview of the current state of the entrepreneurial ecosystem of South Korea, David Lee, Co-Founder & Partner at Kstartup, will discuss how government and private sector incubation and acceleration programs are aiming to improve international competitiveness, growth, and exit opportunities for Korean startups. Joining David on the panel will be Claire Chang, Managing Director of Ignite XL, and Jung-Chull Lee, Senior Associate at Reed Smith, LLP.
Specific new developments to be discussed include the upcoming opening by Google of Campus Seoul, its first space in Asia for startups to hold events and networking. Google has already opened similar spaces in London, Tel Aviv, Warsaw and Sao Paulo. Our panel will also address new Korean government support programs for startups and other private sector programs to connect Korean startups with Silicon Valley and other overseas resources and markets.
David was one of the first 200 employees at Google, working there as a Director from 2000 to 2006. He launched Google’s offices in Korea, Japan, Greater China, Australia, UK, Germany, and Latin America, where he also led business development, sales, and operations. He hired the first management teams in each country and established Google’s initial international revenue base. Eventually, he went on to head up Google’s Asia-Pacific presence. David subsequently co-founded XG Ventures, a Google alumni angel fund. He is a Venture Partner at SK Telecom Ventures (the largest mobile carrier and social network in Korea), a $100M fund based in Silicon Valley, where he leads internet and mobile investments. He is also an LP in Y Combinator and SV Angels Fund, sits on several boards, and is an advisor to several companies in the US, Korea, and China. His accomplishments have been featured in Forbes, Business Week and Techcrunch.
Claire is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of IgniteXL, a Silicon Valley-based accelerator and seed fund that supports promising Korean startups and entrepreneurs. For over 20 years, Claire has brought her global marketing expertise to both established and startup companies in Silicon Valley and Korea. Her passion is working with technology companies and bringing new technologies to market. Claire’s accelerator experience dates back to 2005, at which time she was a principal member of Korea’s premier international business incubator, iPark Silicon Valley. She is the Chairman of the Asian Business League of San Francisco, Board of Directors at SF-Seoul Sister City Committee, and has served in leadership roles with the Korea IT Network, AAMA Connect Conference and the San Mateo Chamber of Commerce.
Jung-Chull is a Senior Associate in the Corporate & Securities Group of Reed Smith LLP. J.C.’s practice focuses on corporate and investment management matters, as well as transactional matters focused on intellectual property and technology for various companies involved in the development, distribution, licensing, disposition and acquisition of technology and intellectual property rights. He has been actively involved in the Korean startup community, representing both companies and investors in various M&A and financing transactions. J.C. also advises many Korean companies who are looking to expand their business operations into Silicon Valley. He received his B.A. from Seoul National University and his J.D. from University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Please join us on Thursday, October 9th for our second session of the quarter on “New Trends in Startup Company Acceleration: Toward the Rise of the Global Startup.”
Immediately following the session, we’ll have a short-networking reception from 5:30 – 6:15PM.
This session is presented by the US-Asia Technology Management Center with support from the Stanford Silicon Valley – New Japan Project and The Miner Foundation.
Stanford University | Gates Building, Room B1 Hewlett Packard Auditorium 353 Serra Mall • Stanford, CA Thursday, October 9th, 2014 • 4:15-5:30PM