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FKCCI and French Tech Seoul deepen their cooperation at the occasion of French ministerial visit in Korea
A fresh impetus for the lively tech scenes between Paris and Seoul!
At the occasion of a two-day visit to Seoul of Jean-Noël Barrot, French Minister in charge of Digital Transition and Telecommunications, the French-Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry had the honor to sign a cooperation agreement with the French Tech Community Seoul to promote the development of their tech ecosystem and support startups between France and Korea.
The agreement was signed on April 26th at the brand-new pavilion of the French Embassy in Korea by the Minister, FKCCI’s Chairman David-Pierre Jalicon, and FT Seoul’s co-Presidents Nicolas Mercier and Etienne Gautheron. Under this framework, the two parties will exchange promotion and expertise through their respective networks and create new joint initiatives such as events and business missions to reinforce the French startup ecosystem in Korea, and respectively the Peninsula’s tech ecosystem on the Hexagon.
In the past, FT Seoul and FKCCI have cooperated extensively in the framework of the French Tech Community Fund to organize the Tech4Good Tour 2022 and Summit in 2021 and 2019.
The “French Tech in Korea” event held at the French Embassy on April 26th concluded the visit of Minister Barrot, a rich program in which he met with the Korean Deputy Minister of Science and ICT to strengthen exchanges in the fields of ICT, in particular the metaverse and 5G telecommunication.
“France and Korea both share a long history in innovation and telecommunications”, the Minister emphasized
He pointed out the strength of France both in the fundamental sciences and its environment for incubating tech gems, while highlighting the increasingly important role of women in technological fields.
Present at this event, the South Korean Deputy Minister of SMEs and Start-ups Cho Ju-hyeon added that "last March, I visited Station F in Paris, the largest start-up campus in world. I was extremely impressed by this innovative ecosystem and the premises for startups. […] In June, Korea will participate in Viva Tech, the largest event dedicated to start-ups in Europe. We will participate as a country of honor in a high-level partnership, and we plan to conduct various networking and promotional activities.”
A total of 8 startups - Exotrail, Owkin, Pasqal, Preligens, Quandela, Stanley Robotics, Tallano and Ynsect - could pitch, specializing in fields as various as aerospace logistics, AI, biotechnology or quantum technology. And four other agreements were concluded, highlighting the dynamism of the bilateral scene. Satrec, a South Korean satellite-making start-up, and its French aerospace partner Exotrail signed an agreement to develop an electric propulsion system while French metaverse start-up Aptero will collaborate with Yeongnam University to design a technology enabling an immersive experience in the field of education. Eurazeo, a French investment company, will collaborate with the insurance company Kyobo Life to create a joint fund for European start-ups. Finally, Ynsect, a French startup pioneering the alternative food industry signed an agreement with the Korean group Lotte to expand the use of insect farming as a sustainable food or fertilizer solution.
