Fifty Korean startups that are selected for the 2023 KOSME K-Unicorn Academy Program 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 26, August 2 and August 9, there were session led by USA mentors.
The Korea SMEs & Startups Agency (KOSME), in collaboration with beSUCCESS Media Group, has launched its highly anticipated 2023 KOSME K-Unicorn Academy 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 26th, Sunny Midha led the online mentor session imparting knowledge about preparing an IR deck for potential investors. Sunny Midha is a renowned US-based growth investor, media & tech M&A Advisor, and principal investor at Principia Growth.
Sunny guided the startup founders about the dos and donts of preparing the IR Deck. “You will have limited time with an investor, so if you are in a competition, you may have only few minutes with an investor and so you have to be precise and clear,” he advised the startup founders. Sunny covered topics like market opportunity, competition, business model, emerging technologies, etc. He also gave examples of successful company decks like that of Uber. After the 40 minutes lecture, the startup founders had an intense Q&A session with Sunny.
In the second US focussed session, the startup founders got to participate in a group workshop with two different mentors regarding USA market expansion. Sunny Midha was one of the mentor and Keaton Nankivil, Principal at Almuni Ventures, joined as the second mentor.
In the second US focussed session, the startup founders participated in a group workshop with two mentors regarding USA market expansion. Sunny Midha was one of the mentors, and Keaton Nankivil, Principal at Alumni Ventures, joined as the second mentor.
On August 2, Caroline Jacobs, Partner at UTA. VC mentored young entrepreneurs. She discussed the VC market globally and in the USA in detail and the different stages of VC investment for startups. Later, her presentation summed up how businesses can build appealing pitches proposals for investment attraction. For the second session on the same day, Jake Kasas, Co-founder & Investor at Silicon Beach Investment Group, joined Caroline for a one-on-one workshop with the participants, where they presented their IR Decks and got valuable insights for success.
On August 9, there was a presentation for the participants about ALLO, a multi-national based startup that has developed a co-working team and project management platform. Also, Youngwon Lee, Founder & CEO of Dokkaebier, an Asian-inspired craft brewery , gave a presentation about his company. Next, Eugene Noh, Strategic Advisor, KAIST Holdings, and Stephen Lee, General Manager, Carbide Venture, took the group mentorship sessions with the participants, where the entrepreneurs asked questions related to the US market and 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 KOSME K-Unicorn Academy 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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