Google Play , together with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Startup & Entrepreneurship Development Institute, held the '2025 Window Alumni Day', an alumni gathering of developers who participated in the Window Program. At this event, approximately 400 people, including the current 7th participating companies, startups that participated in the Window Program in the past, and industry insiders, gathered in one place and had a time to network.
Minister of SMEs and Startups Oh Young-joo, who attended the event this year as well as last year, congratulated the achievements of the 7th year of the window program and encouraged all participating companies from the 1st to the 7th term in his congratulatory speech. Minister Oh evaluated that “over the past 7 years, the window program has supported the remarkable growth of startups and has firmly established itself as one of the most successful public-private cooperation models between the government and Google.” He emphasized that “Going forward, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups will actively foster startups that will lead innovation in the Republic of Korea by supporting the entire process of corporate growth, including startups, talent development, funding, and global expansion, beyond just supporting technological development.”
Launched in 2019, the window program has supported a total of 660 startups to date and has established itself as a representative startup support program in Korea, producing the largest number of graduates among 'AroundX', a public-private cooperative startup support project of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. The cumulative investment attracted by participating developers from 2019 to 2024 based on the agreement period amounts to KRW 177.2 billion. In particular, the 100 companies that participated in the 6th window achieved results such as an increase in combined sales by more than 60% (KRW 31.86 billion → KRW 51.5 billion) and an increase in exports by approximately 130% (KRW 5.79 billion → KRW 13.17 billion) compared to the same period of the previous year during the program participation period (May to December 2024).
AI portal service 'Luton', a 6th batch participant, succeeded in attracting 108 billion won in Series B investment in March 2025. 'Merge Camp' by 'High Score Games', another 6th batch developer, is also continuing to show notable results, such as approximately 6 times the downloads and more than 2 times the sales during the program participation period (as of November 2024 compared to January).
Developers who participated in the Changgu program are demonstrating their influence in the Asia Pacific and global markets beyond Korea. In her welcoming speech that day, Karen Teo, Vice President of Platform and Device Partnerships, Google Asia Pacific, emphasized, “Thanks to the passion and vision of Changgu alumni, Changgu has grown into an outstanding startup initiative beyond Korea and into the world. Korean developers have outstanding capabilities in terms of drive, rapid innovation, and global orientation. Nearly half of them, 49%, have successfully entered overseas markets, and Korean developers’ apps achieved a total of 1.5 billion downloads on overseas Google Play in 2024 alone. Korea has the third-largest number of active developers on Google Play, is at the forefront of AI innovation, and is promoting the appeal of Korean content such as webtoons and games to the world.”
Tim Chae, Managing Partner of 500 Global, who gave the VC (venture capital) keynote speech, focused on the platform changes and new opportunities that AI will bring. Tim Chae predicted that “the number of software products will increase 1,000-fold as AI reduces the cost and time required for coding and software development to near zero and enables non-experts to develop software.” He also suggested that “startups should adopt an AI-centric approach and seek new success indicators and operational methods, such as setting KPIs centered on iteration/execution speed.”
In the panel talk that followed, Jinwoo Kim, CEO of Liner, who was recently named one of the '33 Best AI Entrepreneurs to Watch in 2025' by Forbes as a participant in the Google for Startups AI First program, along with Ringle (1st term CEO Seongpa Lee) and Gameduo (3rd term CEO Jaewon Choi), which are graduates of the window program, joined to share their global expansion and AI utilization strategies. Here, Ringle shared its achievements in rapidly growing in the B2B market based on its AI diagnostic function and securing over 300 corporate customers, while Gameduo introduced its case of driving the global success of 'Ninja Wars' through various support from the window program.
Among the 100 startups selected for the 7th Window this year, 46% have introduced AI technology into their services, which is more than three times the number at the time of the 5th Window selection in 2023, showing that AI technology is rapidly spreading throughout the startup ecosystem. The three CEOs who participated in the panel emphasized strategic use of AI based on a deep understanding of their own services. Ringle CEO Lee Seong-pa said, “AI technology must be applied appropriately in the right place based on a clear understanding of customers in order to be persuasive in the market,” and Liner CEO Kim Jin-woo added, “As LLM’s performance is rapidly advancing, the completeness of the service itself is having a greater impact on user choice.”
In addition, the event also featured a VC Office Hour session to help participating startups establish investment attraction strategies and provide growth advice, which received a great response. This year’s VC Office Hour was attended by 500 Global’s Hyunsik Kim, Goodwater Capital’s Managing Partner Jinseok Oh, Laguna Investment’s Team Leader Sujin Ahn, Mashup Ventures’ Partner Seungguk Lee, Altos Ventures’ Judge Jooseop Yoon, Antler’s Partner Jaehee Jang, Woori Venture Partners’ Investment Team Leader Taegyu Lee, Kona Venture Partners’ Senior Judge Heejin Kwon, Futureplay’s Judge Subin Lee, and Korea Investment Partners’ Team Leader Dongwon Seong, who held in-depth business discussions with startups.
Shin Kyung-ja, Google Asia Pacific Platform and Device Marketing Director, introduced specific support plans, saying, “The Window Program provides various opportunities for startups that dream of making a leap into the wider world.” Shin said, “The ‘Global Immersion Program,’ a global training program that systematically supports developers’ overseas expansion, will expand to the United States this year, and the ‘Changgu AI Study Jam’ will also be newly established this year to strengthen AI technology support.” He also said, “Google Play will support continuous growth through various programs in addition to this, listen to developers’ opinions, and further develop the Window Program to ensure that necessary support is provided in the right place and at the right time.”
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