Busan is good

The Busan Metropolitan City Ranked Among the Top 80 in the Global Emerging Startup Ecosystem

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□ The Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that it has been ranked within the top 80 in the “Top 100 Emerging Global Startup Ecosystems,” as assessed by Startup Genome, a globally recognized startup ecosystem evaluation organization.

○ Following last year’s achievement of being listed in the top 20 emerging startup cities in Asia, Busan has now ranked in the top 80 globally in Startup Genome’s newly published “Top 100 Emerging Global Startup Ecosystems.”

□ The City plans to establish a three-year roadmap to expand ‘Fly Asia,’ Busan’s startup expo, to a global scale and grow it into a world-class event on par with the Davos Forum for startups. The goal is to place Busan in the top 30 globally and the top 10 in Asia within the next three years.

○ ‘Fly Asia 2025,’ scheduled to be held over two days from September 22 to 23, will showcase the transformation of Busan’s startup ecosystem.

□ Moreover, the City will further develop the Global Startup Hub Busan, currently under construction at North Port’s Pier 1, as a global startup mecca where youth from around the world gather to pursue innovation.

□ The recent ranking is believed to reflect the dramatic changes in Busan’s startup ecosystem, including:
▲ The establishment of the Busan Startup Investment Agency (2025)
▲ Launch of the Future Growth Venture Fund (KRW 300 billion by 2025)
▲ Launch of the Local Era Venture Fund (KRW 200 billion in 2024)
▲ Plans to build a KRW 2 trillion startup venture fund by 2030
▲ Expansion of startup infrastructure, including Global Startup Hub Busan and Green Startup Town

○ Busan was ranked ahead of Fukuoka (ranked around 90), a city in the Pan-East Sea region of Japan, reaffirming Busan’s position as a leading startup city in the region.

□ Although Busan’s recent partnership with Plug and Play (PLUG AND PLAY), one of the world’s largest startup accelerators, and plans to establish a Busan office were not included in this evaluation, the City plans to coordinate with the institution so that these developments will be reflected in future rankings.

○ Collaboration with Plug and Play and the hosting of ‘Fly Asia’ are expected to raise Busan’s scores in categories where it underperformed this year, such as global market reach and ecosystem activity.

□ Lee Jun-seung, Vice Mayor for Administrative Affairs of Busan, who visited Startup Genome headquarters in the U.S. last month to discuss the evaluation, stated:
“Busan joined the global startup ecosystem later than other cities, and despite the recent rapid growth of our startup ecosystem, it has not yet been fully reflected in global rankings. We will continue to engage with global evaluation institutions to ensure our recent progress is properly recognized. The City will do its utmost to support the continued growth and transformation of Busan’s startup ecosystem.”

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Appendix: Startup Genome’s Emerging Global Startup Ecosystems (Ranked 70–100)