beSUCCESS CEO James Jung, VP&Director Jinju Jeon
Global startup media beSUCCESS 'beGLOBAL San Francisco 2015 (beGLOBAL 2015)' was held successfully today in San Francisco, U.S.
The Silicon Valley event of beSUCCESS, ‘beGLOBAL San Francisco’ was first introduced in order to provide solutions for difficulties faced by Korean startups seeking foreign investment. This year marks the event’s third anniversary in the city of San Francisco, where the concept of startups was born.
This year ‘beGLOBAL SF 2015’ will feature the top 9 teams from Korea that undertook a two round selection process and were judges by industry experts as the high potential candidates. These teams will have the opportunity to introduce themselves to investment companies in Silicon Valley.
The event has been the turning point for many startups. In 2013, Korbit the first Korean Bitcoin service provider attended ‘beGLOBAL SF 2013’. Through the event, Korbit was successful in securing two investments totaling US$2.9m (KRW 3.4b) through Strong Ventures. Companies that were successful with their global expansion at the ‘beGLOBAL SF 2014’ include Vingle, Bridge Modile, KueKey, Team Bling and Spika. For Spika’s file sharing app Sunshine services run, the event was the cornerstone from which the company was connected to Accelerator company 500Startups.
James Jung, the CEO of beSUCCESS commented, “Compared to previous years, the interest from investors in startups from Korea and Asia is heating up. We hope through this year’s success we will cement beGLOBAL SF as the marque starup event bridging the ecosystems in Asia to Silicon Valley”.
Like the Korean event, the beGLOBAL SF event will provide a large audition opportunity for startups through ‘startup battle’ and ‘startup booths’, where 36 top startup industry identities will lead 15 interactions with startups. In comparison to last year’s event the opporutunity for startups to introduce themselves to foreign investors has been increased.
The focus for beGlobal SF 2015 will be technology startups that are either registered entities in North America or planning to setup a registered entity in the next year.
9 startups take their first step in their global aspirations
Startup Battle: K-POP UNITED 'Krowdpop'
A highlight of the beGLOBAL SF will be the 'startup battle’, where startups are provided opportunities to network with investors and global partners. This year 9 of the best startups selected by a panel after rigorous auditioning will battle it out at the event.
Among the key teams will include beGLOBAL’s startup Seerslab. Lollicam a fresh new app for self camera and video which within the first 5 months of launch recorded one million downloads. The app is also the top free app in Apple store and Google Play in the category for Story Media and Video. Through the development of network communication technologies, transfer of video rather than images is the trend.
Another startup that experienced remarkable growth was April which operates Linkshops.com a platform linking wholesalers to businesses through B2B service. The service links domestic distribution channels to North and South Americas through online market place platforms. An investment expert determined that this solution would raise interests from Silicon Valley investors.
REALITOR, the creator of REALITOR interfaces is a company that provides Foot Haptic to the Virtual Reality market that is gaining interest. This technology has been developed by high school students and university student team from KAIST IP Youth Business Education. By 2020, the virtual reality industry is tipped to be worth a staggering US$30 billion.
An attendee at this year ‘startup battle’ commented, “beGLOBAL provides a window of opportunity to meet Silicon Valley investors”. “We hope this beGLOBAL attendance will get us a step closer to reaching our global aspirations”.
Leaders, Founders and Speakers from Silicon Valley VCs
Founders Space Steve Hoffman, Goodwater Capital Eric Kim, 500 Startups Christine Tsai
‘beGLOBAL 2015’ in the third year has presented the best lineup of attendees thus far. In particular Silicon Valley influential investors will present as speakers and participate as judging panel members. They will also share with their experiences and know-how of the Asian startup market. With an opportunity to gain insight into the best startups from Asia, the event will be beneficial to both investors and startups.
The event will also provide a meeting opportunity for leading figures from the two cities of Seoul and San Francisco to meet. Gunso Kim, the former Head of Strategic Planning for Seoul City, will meet with Jay Nath, the current CIO for San Francisco. They will discuss the topic of ‘Global Innovation Ecosystem’ and share know-how and experiences with the aim of developing co-operation opportunities between the two cities.
Eric Kim a leading startup investor from Unicorn Startup that invested into Coupang and Kakao along with Christine Tsai the co-founder of 500Startups will jointly present on the topic of ‘Investment Insights: Unicorn Hunting in Asia’.
Kevin Laws from leading US startup investment company, AngelList will present on the topic of ‘The Future of Global Cross-Border Angel Investment - How to Raise Money Globally’. Additionally, the head of DeNA that was setup to provide insight for Japanese funds to invest into Silicon Valley Venture Capitals, representative of Yahoo Japan and Yamaha Ventures Investment will discuss investment strategies.
In the afternoon session, Uber and Evernote will share their experiences in confronting and overcoming difficulties in entering the Asian market.
The winner of the ‘startup battle’ will be broadcasted through beSUCCESS media at approximately 2:00AM (Seoul time).
