Heat up the Startups
'Startup Heart' Seongsu-dong - from an underdeveloped industrial area to the second Pangyo with easy access to Gangnam, low land price, and cultural center
According to ChosunBiz Newspaper1, a game company Krafton formed a consortium with Mirae Asset Asset Management on the 18th of October and signed a memorandum of understanding to purchase the E-Mart headquarters building and site in Seongsu-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul under a sale contract expected to be signed in November. Krafton plans to transform this building with a total floor area of 99,474 square meters, with 3 basement levels and 20 above the ground, into a new office building. A Krafton official said, “As the company expands, the Pangyo office building and Yeoksam headquarters are narrowed, so we are renting offices all over Seoul”. “Teheran-ro and Pangyo were already expensive and saturated, so we decided to move to Seongsu-dong after searching for a site,” he said.
Recently, promising startups and large IT companies have left Gangnam, Seoul and Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province, and are gathering in Seongsu-dong. which was only known for its old factory buildings and cafe streets, is emerging as a new business district as it is called the second Pangyo and Brooklyn in Korea (New York's startup district). An official from the venture industry said, “Recently, land prices in Pangyo and Gangnam have risen a lot, and buildings are so full that building owners can choose companies” and “Seongsu is emerging as a new alternative because of its geographical accessibility and reasonable price,” he said.
The first generation to enter Seongsu-dong were social enterprises and related investment companies. Representative examples include Sopoong Ventures, a social venture investment company founded by Daum founder Lee Jae-Woong, and Root Impact, led by 3rd-generation Hyundai CEO Jeong Gyeong-sun. The rush of successful IT companies and startups has been in full swing since last year. As the second venture boom after the pandemic and investments were rushed, large-scale startups began to move from cramped and expensive Teheran-ro to Seongsu-dong. Musinsa, a fashion unicorn (a startup valued at more than KRW 1 trillion), moved its headquarters from Gangnam to a shared office in Seongsu-dong in September last year. Together with high-tech companies such as car sharing (Socar), global education app (Enuma), and robot cafe (Lounge Lab) located in Seongsu-dong, they are leading the Silicon Valley in Seongsu-dong.
‘Red Carpet’ for Foreign Startups
If ever you have a plan to do business or startups in Korea, especially in the technology-related industry, OASIS (Overall Assistance for Start-up Immigration System) is your first step to launching a startup business in Korea as a foreigner. OASIS is a visa point system that even offers guidance courses about setting up business in Korea. Completion of those courses will earn you points to qualify you to obtain the D-8-4 (Startup Visa). Required classes include Intellectual Property and Patent Law, Business Law, Korean Culture and Korean Society, ....
With experienced lawyers and a qualified interpreter team, Law–Win can support your startup in Korea, not only about the visa process but also about the legal-related affairs during the operation of your business.
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(1) Reporter Jang Hyong-Tae, "“기업 골라 받을 만큼 꽉찼다” 성수동이 스타트업 심장된 까닭", ChosunBiz
