Asan Nanum Foundation, Silicon Valley base MaruSF pilot operation begins

Asan Nanum Foundation announced on the 9th that it will welcome its first batch of teams to its Silicon Valley hub 'Maru SF', which was established to support domestic startups entering the US market, and will begin trial operations this month.

'Maru SF' is a combination of MARU, an entrepreneurship platform operated by the Asan Nanum Foundation, and San Francisco, the name of the area where the base is located. It will be created as a community hub where domestic startups preparing to enter the U.S. can intensively explore the local market in a short period of time, interact with the local Silicon Valley startup ecosystem, and build networks.

This MaruSF pilot operation is a stage to examine short-term living spaces and networking programs from the perspective of actual users, startups. The foundation plans to optimize the facilities, program composition, and overall operation method before the official operation in the second half of the year.

'Membership Startups' who can use MaruSF can stay in short-term housing for a minimum of 4 weeks and a maximum of 7 weeks and participate in various networking programs. Membership Startups are selected through recommendations from 14 'Membership Partners', domestic and international startup ecosystem organizations that have signed agreements with the Asan Nanum Foundation, and through an internal screening process. A total of 19 teams were selected in this first term, and can stay and use MaruSF for up to 16 weeks during the one year that membership qualification is granted.

Choi Yu-na, Head of Management at Asan Nanum Foundation, said, “I am very pleased to open the first page of a global leap forward with startups preparing to enter the U.S. market at Maru SF, Asan Nanum Foundation’s first overseas base.” She added, “Through this pilot operation, we will closely listen to the voices of startups preparing to enter the U.S. market and the U.S. startup ecosystem, and systematically design practical support necessary for global expansion.”

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