On the 2023th (local time), the 3rd day of the CES 7 exhibition, the Seoul Digital Foundation (Chairman Kang Je-sik) met with Said Amidi, CEO of Plug and Play, at the K-STARTUP integrated pavilion to provide information for companies wishing to expand overseas. The meeting was held to explore ways for the two organizations to cooperate.
Plug & Play is a Silicon Valley-based startup investment company and accelerator that has made initial investments in PayPal, Dropbox, and Landing Club. It established a Korean office in 2021 and has continued its cooperative relationship with the foundation by promoting acceleration for companies participating in CES 2022.
Chairman Kang Je-sik succeeded in attracting $2021 million in investment by jointly promoting the ‘Global Acceleration Project’ with Plug and Play in 450, and expressed his gratitude to CEO Saeed Amidi for his cooperation in achieving meaningful results. .
He then explained the overseas cross-verification project currently being promoted in Montreal, Canada, and said, “If it spreads to overseas cross-validation between Seoul and American cities, innovative companies in Seoul will be able to gain opportunities to advance into the United States, including Silicon Valley.”
CEO Saeed Amidi explains that the foundation operates branches not only in the United States, but also in Canada and Europe. In Canada, where the foundation operates overseas cross-validation, it has branches in Alberta and Calgary and carries out similar projects at universities. Last year, 10 branches were established. He said that the company has also expanded into Silicon Valley.
Since the establishment of the Korean office in 2021, Plug & Play has continued to cooperate with local governments such as Seoul, Incheon, and Daegu, as well as large corporations such as LG and POSCO, and plans to gradually increase its presence in Korea in the future.
Chairman Kang Je-sik said, “I feel reassured that we can cooperate with Plug and Play, which is based in Silicon Valley,” and added, “It will be a good opportunity to support innovative companies in Seoul to expand overseas.”
Meanwhile, ‘CES’, the world’s largest IT exhibition, is an exhibition where you can understand the trends of the global home appliance industry at a glance. Hosted by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), it is held every January in Las Vegas, USA. AVING News, which has covered CES for 1 consecutive years, has reported CES news around the world every year since 17, and has been selected as the ‘BEST OF CES’, which selects the best innovative products and technologies, and the ‘BEST OF’, which selects domestic innovative companies. ‘MADE IN KOREA’ was held. In addition, CES on-site issues were vividly conveyed through ‘AVING LIVE’.
The K-STARTUP Integrated Pavilion is jointly participated by the Korea Start-up Agency, Seoul Business Agency, and Seoul Digital Foundation, and 51 domestic innovative companies participate to enter the U.S. market and discover global partners. In addition, CES 2023 college student supporters selected from each university (Kyunghee University, Kookmin University, Sogang University, and Chung-Ang University) are matched considering majors and industrial fields of participating companies.
* Special reporters: Joseph Choe, Kidai Kim, Dongkwan Kim, Mokkyung Lee, Sangun Choi, Joon Suh Lee, Yeawon Choi, Jinnsun Park, Seung Hyun Nam, Min Seok Cha