The startup scene in Seoul is showing a steady growth for the past five years. According to 500 startups, the scene was really starting in 2010, when the accelerator Primer (initiated by the founder of Daum, the second largest web portal of South Korea) launched the first batch. Afterwards further accelerators such as Spark Labs, KSTARTUP or FT Accelerator followed. On Bloomberg's Global Innovation Ranking of 2014, the metropolis was even ranked in first place, with indicators such as research & development, productivity, technology and patent activity density. South Korea is also described as a "mobile commerce powerhouse" with the fourth highest mobile penetration rate of 83%, the smartphone usage is 50% higher compared to the US and the sector of mobile commerce takes 28% of total online sales in South Korea (Innovation is Everywhere, 2015). Therefore, the strengths and opportunities for startups and investors are mainly in the ICT sector, mobile game development and social media innovations.
However, many potential founders are still tentative concerning the jump into the life of an entrepreneur and university graduates apply still mostly at big companies. But there seems to be an increasing change in these traditional mind sets and many young entrepreneurs, who studied abroad, bring back on their return the business, technical and linguistic know-how to found a company.
The government recognized the potential of startups and decided in 2014 to invest $3.7 billion in the next three years in the development of startups, with the help of funds and initiatives, such as KISED (Korea Institute of Startup and Entrepreneurship Development). Likewise, large Korean companies were motivated to participate in the funding and promotion of startups and planned tax reductions for company founders. Big companies and investors from China and Japan are investing into Korean Startups as well. Google also participates in the construction and expansion of the startup ecosystem in Seoul with the Campus Seoul, a cluster of co-working spaces, innovation labs and event space. Some events by Startup Grind Seoul or the Startup conference "BeGlobal SEOUL" take place in Seoul and a transnational acceleration program, “Accelerator Korea” , between Berlin and South Korea was launched in 2015, in association with SMBA (Small and Medium Business Administration) and KISED. Within this program Startups receive, after an application process the opportunity to take part in a fully funded three-month stay at the Betahaus in Berlin.