Hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister Choi Hwi-young) and organized by the Korea Arts Management Service (CEO Kim Jang-ho), "2025 Art Startup Day" was held on Monday, November 3rd, at Arts Korea Lab in Jongno-gu, Seoul. The event aimed to explore future directions for the arts industry by sharing the achievements of art enterprises, attracting investment, and discussing collaboration with large and medium-sized enterprises.
The event consisted of three parts: ▲Part 1: Performance Sharing Session ▲Part 2: Integrated IR Demo Day ▲Part 3: Open Discussion with Large and Medium-sized Enterprises and Senior Art Companies.
In Part 1, the business performance and support cases of four startup incubators (Fiji Ventures, Y&Archer, Painters & Ventures, and MY Social Company) that participated in this year's art enterprise support project were shared, along with art enterprises such as Messis, Creaks, Summit Play, and Kimu.
At the second part of the integrated IR Demo Day, nine art companies, including Summit Play, Geari, Costa, Neulwihanmunhwayeol, Shudder, Soa, Ever Treasure, Super Position, and Birthday, presented their business models to attract investment. Twenty investment firms, including Icrux Venture Partners, Oracle Venture Investment, Commax Ventures, Logan Ventures, and Michigan Venture Capital, attended the event.
One investor in attendance said, “As the global influence of Korean culture expands, the potential of art enterprises is also increasing,” adding, “We anticipate the growth of entrepreneurs equipped with both creative and management capabilities.”
In Part 3, we shared examples of collaboration between art companies and large and medium-sized enterprises and discussed ways to collaborate.
Lee Hae-chan, Head of Art & Culture at Hyundai Department Store, introduced a case study of a complex cultural space that combines art with the theme of “Art of Space and Customer Experience,” while Yoon So-jung, Creative Director of Lush Korea, presented the “Pop-up Theater” project, an example of the fusion of brand and art.
Additionally, a panel talk was held with CEO Jae-wook Kim of Fruit Company, attended by CEO Jin-hwa Jin of Pinzle, Co-CEO Eun-young Lee of Unique Good Company, and CEO Seong-pil Kim of Studio Atech, sharing the difficulties of starting a business and know-how on entering overseas markets.
Representatives from various large and medium-sized companies, including CJ ENM, KT, Lotte Hotel, SM Entertainment, and Hyundai Department Store, attended the event and discussed potential collaborations with art companies. Lee Hae-chan, Senior Vice President of Hyundai Department Store, said, "It was a meaningful opportunity to meet new art companies with creative ideas. We look forward to diverse collaboration opportunities in the future."
Kim Jang-ho, CEO of the Arts Management Support Center, said, “Through this event, we were able to expand the contact points between the investment field and art companies and confirm the possibility of collaboration with large and medium-sized companies.” He added, “We will strengthen our support so that the creative items of art companies can lead to practical business opportunities.”
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