SEOUL, SINGAPORE, 22 May 2014—Joyful Frog Digital Incubator (JFDI) and the Banks Foundation for Young Entrepreneurs (Banks Foundation) today announced a strategic partnership to boost the skills of first-time entrepreneurs across language and cultural barriers and to help established startup companies from Korea and Singapore expand beyond their home markets across the Asia Pacific region.
The partnership will allow startups who are members of either JFDI’s Innovation Campus in Singapore, or the Banks Foundation D.Camp working space in Seoul, to work free of charge in either space, giving them a foothold in both the north and south of Asia. The organizations will share networks and know-how to support startups venturing out from home and co-develop a multilingual joint education program to get first-time entrepreneurs ready for the international market from Day 1.
Naree Lee, Managing Director of the Banks Foundation for Young Entrepreneurs said: “I believe there will be a huge synergy as both organizations are leaders in Asia’s startup ecosystem. We will put our utmost effort into supporting Korean startups entering a Southeast Asia market that grows more competitive day by day.”
JFDI has operated across APAC since 2011, when it supported Startup Weekend events in six cities across the region, involving hundreds of startup teams and its accelerator program always includes participants from a wide pool of Asia countries. Today’s partnership begins to establish permanent representation across the region and builds on JFDI’s positive experience helping a group of ten Korean entrepreneurial teams to ‘go global’ last year.
Hugh Mason, Co-founder and CEO of JFDI said “Korean startups are capable and aggressive in their passion to go global. This partnership is an important first step that helps to build a regional ecosystem in Asia that learns from the collaborative spirit of Silicon Valley.”
Banks Foundation for Young Entrepreneurs’s role as the Asia’s startup hub and help local startups enter SEA market. Both parties will be engaging in recruitment program supporting startups from Korea and Singapore. They also plan to run startup education program and share space among its members. Banks Foundation for Young Entrepreneurs have signed partnership agreement with Bon Angels, renowned Korean VC and Altos Ventures from Silicon Valley in the past.
The Banks Foundation for Young Entrepreneurs was established by 20 members of the Korea Federation of Banks in May 2012 with an initial contribution of 100 billion won and the aim of helping to address one of the most critical issues facing Korea today: worsening youth unemployment. The Foundation offers both financial support, including guarantees and investment, as well as non-financial support such as office space, mentoring programs, and financial and marketing education.
The Foundation has a maximum budget of 500 billion won for the 3-year period following its establishment. Beneficiaries are either entrepreneur hopefuls or entrepreneurs with businesses less than 3 years old, and who are in their 20s or 30s. In addition to delivering numerous events and operating the D.Camp coworking space in Seoul’s Gangnam district, the Foundation has directly financed promising startups and established partnerships with Bon Angels, renowned Korean VC and Altos Ventures from Silicon Valley.