By Diplomacy Journal Lee Kap-soo

The Korea Startup Forum (KOSFO) announced on July 17 that it successfully held the “KSF IR Day,” a practical IR program supporting promising domestic deep tech startups' entry into the European market, at the Aston Hall of the British Embassy in Korea on July 16.

Through this event, which was held as a pre-program for COMEUP 2025, KOSPO established official exchange channels with the UK startup ecosystem, including the British Embassy in Korea and the UK Department for International Trade.

A total of 77 teams of startups in cutting-edge technology fields such as AI, robotics, and healthcare applied for the preliminary recruitment to select six companies to participate in the IR pitching on the day, resulting in a competition rate of approximately 13 to 1.

Among them, ▲Mediology, ▲SevenPointOne, ▲Cubic, ▲EightTech, ▲Studio Galilei, and ▲Portrai, which received excellent evaluations, gave presentations at the event.

Based on the results of the judging panel's evaluation, the final winner was Portrai in the AI bio field. The winning team will be given the opportunity to participate in the COMEUP 2025 exhibition booth and London Tech Week 2026, as well as business matching opportunities with local investors and partner organizations in the UK. The six companies will be provided with one year of free membership to KOSFO.

Choi Ji-young, Executive Director of KOSFO, said, “Global expansion is a core strategy for the survival and growth of startups. It was meaningful to be able to discover excellent Korean innovation resources and create opportunities to expand globally in collaboration with the UK government.”

Tony Clemson, Director of Trade and Investment for Korea, at the British Embassy in Korea, said, “The UK is Europe's largest and the world's third-largest startup ecosystem, with a value of over $1.1 trillion, more than 150 unicorns, and over 25,000 startups that have attracted investment. It offers excellent opportunities in terms of capital, talent, and access to global markets.”

He added, “We look forward to Korea and the UK collaborating with innovative startups in deep tech fields such as AI and quantum technology to jointly lead the next generation of technological innovation.”