Google Inc’s first campus for start-ups and entrepreneurs in Asia opened yesterday in a glitzy neighborhood of South Korean capital, Seoul.
Google cited South Korea’s flourishing start-up scene and pervasive smartphone use as the reasons for picking Seoul after opening similar sites in London and Tel Aviv.
Located in Gangnam, Campus Seoul rents out its 2,000m2 space to start-ups and venture investors. It has an open plan office designed to foster collaboration between fledgling companies and a cafe that anyone can use after signing up.
The campus is the latest addition to the expanding start-up scene in the Gangnam District, which has attracted app developers, entrepreneurs and investors. In the last two years, spaces dedicated to start-ups such as D Camp and Maru 180 have also opened.
The area has recently begun attracting venture funds from Japan and Silicon Valley seeking to bet on fledgling companies.
Almost every day, a meeting or a conference among tech start-ups takes place in Gangnam, also home to a major business complex housing South Korea’s largest business group, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.
Google plans to host events for tech start-ups as well, and begin a mentoring program for female entrepreneurs with children.
“Our goal with Campus Seoul is to create a space where entrepreneurs can thrive,” Google director of global entrepreneurship Mary Grove said on Google’s official blog. “Where they can feel at home with the local community, yet have everything they need to build a global company.”
As the only start-up campus in Asia backed by Google, Campus Seoul is also to help start-ups from overseas understand the South Korean and other markets in the region, according to Grove.
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