Online Panel: Startup ecosystem in Korea

[Update: Due to an unforeseen circumstance, Erik Cornelius, Co-founder & COO of G3 Partners will be replacing Nathan Millard on this online panel.]

Korea, the country that presented us with catchy K-pop tunes and drama series’ that keeps our eyes teary and heartstrings tugged. Not to mention the slew of gadgets, household items and cars that has made its way into becoming staples in our homes. As it turns out, the nation’s startup scene is quite buzzing one too.

E-commerce, gaming and food-tech taking the top trends in the country, Coupang takes top valuation for a startup at $5 billion, and we’re excited at how many more from the nation that will join the unicorn club. The country also provides initiatives for startups which makes for a tempting pull to start up in Korea, not to mention Tencent, DJI and Xiaomi‘s interest in both leveraging on the K-craze as well as itching for a bite into the Korean market share.

Here are the panelists for this segment:

Edward Hahn – Co-founder and Co-CEO of WaHome, a mobile first home services platform focusing on house cleaning. Before WaHome, Edward was a serial entrepreneur having help Pinchit.com a Silicon Valley based flash sale startup enter the New York market.

After that he cofounded Scene Network, a nightlife booking platform. Prior to his startup tech, Edward worked on JP Morgan’s Equity Derivatives desk in New York. Edward holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from Columbia University and is a very proud longtime native of New York.

Elaine Ramirez – An editor and writer based in Seoul, South Korea. She cofounded a web magazine in Chile and directed a print magazine in South Korea. She has written and edited for newspapers and magazines in New York, Santiago and Seoul.

Elaine is the Korea correspondent for The Diplomat and the founding member of Revista Revolver. She was the former correspondent in Korea for Tech in Asia.

Erik Cornelius – Co-Founder & COO of G3 Partners, a PR & Marketing agency that works exclusively with startups, helping them achieve business goals like raising investment, increasing user growth and hiring top talent.

Erik has spent more than a decade in Korea developing and executing marketing strategies for companies ranging in size from startups to Samsung. Previous roles include leading online marketing for Edelman Korea, VP of Marketing at video startup Shakr Media, and International Marketing Manager at Daumsoft, a data-mining company spun off from Daum Communication. Erik has also actively blogged about Korea’s startup scene for both G3 Partners and Seoul Space.

• Funding trends in Korea
• Barriers to entry
• Starting up in Korea
• Startup culture
• China and Korea
• Does military service play a part in dimming creativity?

Here are some reads about Korea that you might find interesting:

• South Korea through the eyes of local startups
• Everything you need to know in South Korea’s startup scene
• Samsung wants to be a startup. What could go wrong?
• Korea’s funding bonanza could be cut short this year. (INFOGRAPHIC)
• Military service kills creative startup ecosystem in South Korea