The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Oh Young-joo, hereinafter referred to as MSS) held the 'K-Startup X France Meetup Day' event at the Seoul Global Startup Center on the 8th. This event was held jointly by the MSS and the French Embassy in Korea to commemorate the new participation of three French companies, Thales, L'Oréal Korea, and Air Liquide, in the 'Global Corporate Collaboration Program,' the MSS's representative public-private cooperative startup support project, starting this year.
The 'Global Enterprise Collaboration Program' is a global open innovation program in which the government and leading global companies collaborate to support the growth of our startups and provide opportunities to enter overseas markets. Since its inception in 2019 with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and one Google Play company, the number of participating global companies has increased every year, with a total of 13 companies participating this year.
'This year, a total of four major French companies, including Dassault Systèmes, which has participated in the program since 2020, and Thales, L'Oréal Korea, and Air Liquide, which have newly joined, will participate in the 'Global Corporate Collaboration Program' and join forces to foster K-startups.
Dassault Systèmes, a global leader in manufacturing software, has been operating the 'Daonda' program since 2020, providing solution licenses such as BIOVIA to startups in the pharmaceutical, bio, and healthcare industries, and supporting technical training and consulting. From 2020 to 2024, a total of 113 startups improved their technological capabilities through the 'Daonda' program.
Global beauty company L'Oréal Korea has maintained a close cooperative relationship with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups since signing an MOU with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in 2023 to support startups in the beauty tech field, and has been operating the 'Big Bang' program in Korea since 2023. Starting this year, it has officially joined the 'Global Corporate Collaboration Program' to select and support startups in the digital and research innovation fields.
Thales, a global leader in aerospace and cybersecurity, will operate the ‘Trust My Tech’ program to discover promising startups in the deep tech field and provide support through the Thales cloud platform, technology and business consulting, and specialized training in each field.
Lastly, Air Liquide, a global industrial gas company, operates the 'NEO (New Energy-transition Opportunity)' program to discover promising startups in eco-friendly energy fields such as hydrogen and secondary batteries and support their technological advancement and business growth.
The 'K-Startup X France Meetup Day' event is a place where the four participating companies that were finally selected through the public notice gather together to have their first meeting with global companies. French corporate officials, including Woon-Sung Jeong, CEO of Dassault Systèmes Korea, Nicolas Bouverot, Vice President of Thales Group Asia, Francois Piolet, CEO of Thales Korea, Samuel du Retail, CEO of L'Oréal Korea, and Nicolas Foirien, CEO of Air Liquide Korea, attended the event to encourage the startups that were selected for their programs.
The French Embassy in Korea and La French Tech Seoul, which have shown special interest in and support for collaboration between large French companies and Korean startups, also participated in the event. In his congratulatory speech, French Ambassador to Korea Philippe Bertoux sent a message of support to the companies attending the event, saying, “The embassy will also actively support more French companies to collaborate with K-startups and connect the startup ecosystems of both countries.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced a new name for the 'Global Corporate Collaboration Program,' 'Around X,' at the event that day. As the 'Global Corporate Collaboration Program,' now in its 7th year, has created excellent results and established itself as the ministry's representative startup support project, the ministry decided to rebrand it using a new, more distinctive and symbolic name. After gathering opinions from dedicated organizations, hosting organizations, global companies, startups, etc., the ministry confirmed 'Around X' as the new project name. 'Around X' signifies the vision of creating infinite possibilities through connection and expansion.
Minister Oh Young-joo said in his congratulatory speech at the 'K-Startup X France Meetup Day' event, "France, with its innovative startup ecosystem, is a key partner for Korea in the startup sector," and "I would like to express my gratitude for the interest and support for K-startups from global companies representing France."
He also added, “The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will spare no support to ensure that the global corporate collaboration program, which is making a fresh start under the name ‘Around X,’ can continue to serve as a venue for collaboration between global companies and our startups.”
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