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Google “AI Startup School” Officially Launched… Commemorative Event “Startup Pocha” Held

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that at 5 p.m. today (26th), it will host a “Special Startup Pocha” at Gwangalli’s “Bronx Brewing Company” to commemorate the launch of Google (Google for Startups) “AI Startup School 2025.”

The event will be attended by Park Heong-joon, Mayor of Busan, Kim Kyung-hoon, President of Google Korea, Mike Kim, Head of Google Startup Campus Asia-Pacific, Seo Jong-goon, President of the Busan Startup Investment Agency, CEOs of the Busan–Ulsan–Gyeongnam Creative Economy Innovation Centers, and about 130 other participants.

“Startup Pocha” is a networking event that Google has been hosting monthly at its “Google Startup Campus” in Seoul to vitalize the startup ecosystem. In particular, this year’s event marks the 10th anniversary of the “Google Startup Campus.” Beginning in Busan today, it will continue as a regional tour to Gwangju (Jeonnam) and Gyeongju.

The event program consists of:
▲ Introduction of the “AI Startup School” ▲ Celebration performance ▲ Google expert sessions ▲ Talks by AI startup representatives.

In the “Google Expert Session,” Hwang Jang-jun, Senior Engineer at Google Cloud, will deliver a lecture on “Startup Survival Strategies in the Era of Generative AI,” and Baek Seung-hwan, Manager at Google Customer Solutions, will speak on “AI Marketing with Google.”

The following “Fireside Chat” will feature Lee Chan-hyung, a physician and founder of the medical IT startup Mediarc, who will discuss “Envisioning the Future of Healthcare with AI: Mediarc’s Technology and Growth” with local entrepreneurs.

Following the launch ceremony, the “AI Startup School” will officially commence on August 27 and run until September 30 at the Busan Eurasia Platform, with six sessions held weekly.

The program will include lectures by Monica Kang, founder of InnovatorsBox (3 sessions), Google experts (2 sessions), and a leading AI startup representative (1 session), all provided free of charge.

In particular, during the 4th and 5th sessions, Google Cloud engineers will give talks sharing AI technology use cases and will conduct practical training using Google AI Studio, further strengthening AI-related education.

Applications are being accepted in advance for each session through the official website (goo.gle/aistartupschool2025), and on-site registration will also be available on the day of each session.

In addition to in-person education, the sessions will be broadcast live on Google’s official YouTube channel (youtube.com/googleforstartups), providing citizens interested in AI with the opportunity to participate.

Graduates of the program will receive preferential treatment in the evaluation of the “Busan Startup Package Project” next year, opportunities to participate in the Busan Startup Investment Agency’s IR (Investor Relations) sessions, and mentoring consultations with investors. Google will also issue official certificates of completion and grant additional points when graduates apply for Google startup support programs, thus providing practical growth support for aspiring and early-stage startups.

Furthermore, 10 participants who complete the in-person program will be selected for a tour of the “Google Startup Campus”* and will be offered additional networking opportunities with Google teams.
*Google Startup Campus (located in Gangnam-gu, Seoul): Opened in 2015 as a community space for startups, it operates major programs such as networking, mentoring, education, and global expansion support.

Mayor Park stated, “Through the cooperation between Busan Metropolitan City and Google (Google for Startups), the ‘Startup School’ this year has been enhanced with AI content and will be presented in Busan. As Busan strives to establish itself as an ‘Asian Startup City’ by focusing resources across various fields, we will continue to foster the growth of Busan’s startup ecosystem through sustained collaboration with global enterprises.”

Meanwhile, since its launch in April 2023, Google’s “Startup School” has attracted a total of 4,632 participants over the past two years.