KOSME K-Unicorn Academy Program: Mentorship with Saudi VCs and Experts for Korean Entrepreneurs

Fifty Korean startups that are selected for the KOSME K-Unicorn Academy by Korea SMEs & Startups Agency (KOSME) are getting to participate in online mentorship sessions conducted by VCs and investment experts from different countries. The participants had three sessions with different mentors from the USA, Singapore and Saudi Arabia. On July 28, August 4 and August 11, there were session on Saudi Arabia and Middle East market.

The Korea SMEs & Startups Agency (KOSME), in collaboration with beSUCCESS Media Group, has launched its highly anticipated 2023 Youth Entrepreneurship Academy Global Expansion Program. This program aims to support young entrepreneurs in Korea by providing them with the necessary resources and opportunities to expand their ventures on a global scale.

On July 28, Mohammed Alomar, Founding Partner, Nama Invest, led the online mentor session imparting knowledge about Middle East market focussing on Saudi Arabia. Mohammed Alomar is a Saudi Arabia-based investor, whose company Nama Invest is a venture builder and investment firm focusing on three verticals; healthcare, fintech and real estate.

Mohammed guided the startup founders about the dos and donts of preparing the IR Deck and strategies to attract investment and do business in Middle East market. In the second session, the startup founders got to interact in a group workshop with Mohanned Alomar, where he gave valuable insights and feedbacks on the participants’ IR Decks and answered their queries about global expansion.

On August 4, Walied Alabsheer, a serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist and Founder & Managing Partner of Intuitio Ventures LLC, a pre-seed venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley gave an online mentoring presentation about investment landscape in Saudi Arabia. In the next session Dominik Weihs, founder of NEOM Mobility, had a one-on-one group sessions with startup founders

On August 11, for the representative lecture session on Middle-East, Yongkyung Han gave a presentation about Middle East startup ecosystem and entry strategies, while Louisa De Beer, Program director, Blossom Accelerator, gave insights and feedback for startup founders wanting to go for Middle-East expansion.

KOSME (Korea SMEs & Startups Agency) plays a pivotal role in fostering the growth and development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Korea. KOSME develops human resources by providing young entrepreneurs an opportunity to start a business and SME employees with high-quality training. Through its comprehensive range of financial and non-financial programs, KOSME aims to support SMEs in expanding their operations, diversifying their product offerings, and enhancing their global competitiveness.

The Youth Startup Academy Global Expansion Program orientation and pre-acceleration phase was on July 18, where the young participants were introduced to the program and mentored by business experts. KOSME’s program will continue till August 11, 2023, with new sessions with experts in the industry each week.

This program received applications from 140 companies, all of which participated in the Youth Entrepreneurship Officer School program. Through a process of document screening and online interviews, 50 companies were selected in the initial round. These selected entrepreneurs, all under the age of 40, hail from a diverse range of early-stage companies, spanning sectors such as ICT, healthcare, SaaS, manufacturing, and beyond.

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