GRATITUDE to the collective
#VIET STARTUP INTERCHANGE KOREA 2023#
Last week, a delegation from Vietnam visited Korea. The delegation included different stakeholders of an ecosystem: the government (SCE-Hanoi Investment and Planning); the two organizers- AIT Vietnam, and BambuUP; and the representatives of 15 startups from different industries. We visited representatives of the startup ecosystem in Korea: 01 large enterprises and corporations, 02 investments, 03 growing startups, 05 entrepreneurial training experts, and 04 startup/development/acceleration support units.
(#MESSAGE 1) Open collaboration – being open to collaborate no matter how big or small you are:
#Story of Open Library, GLN International, Gangnam Global Village Center#
Open Library has financial, brand, and network support from STS Development. GLN International receives financial, brand, and network support from Hana Financial Group. Gangnam Global Village Center is sponsored by the government to realize its mission of helping foreigners in Korea.
"Instead of wondering ‘Who am I?’ when talking to big partners, you can shift the focus to ‘What value do I add to them? What the big company gets when collaborating with me" _ This was shared by Mr. Minh - Open Library.
(#MESSAGE 2) Entrepreneurial spirit and team:
#Story of Ourbox
The founder of Ourbox started his business at the age of over 50, after experiencing many leadership positions in multinational corporations. After more than 5 years, he and his team built Ourbox into one of 20 companies selected as 'pre-unicorn' in Korea.
‘I started my business when I was over 50 years old and was supported by amazing people who believed in the mission and me. So, I need to be more cautious than if I started my business at a young age like you guys. We all have the same denominator: trust what we do, and not let doubts kill our dreams. For you, at an early age, we need to let ourselves experience as much as possible, fail forward instead of wondering, and wait without action.' _Sharing from the founder of Ourbox
(#MESSAGE 3) National unity and pride:
#story of all of us #
All Korean Startups and components in the Korean ecosystem share their gratitude and pride in the Korean government's multi-dimensional support for innovative startup activities.
Vietnam can embrace the national pride and national spirit of the Vietnamese people to work together in the process of realizing the country's development goal based on an innovation-led economy.
(#MESSAGE 4) Choose to be kind, rather than be right
#story of the bus driver#
The bus driver welcomed us in Vietnamese 'Xin Chao. I love Vietnam'.
He learned to speak 'See you later' when we got out of the car and 'Come in please' in Vietnamese when we got into the car.
He didn't mind driving our friend a long way to get a lost item. He stood in the door, shook hands, and wished everyone a great coming back to Vietnam on our last day.
We didn't speak much in words with him but we would not forget how did he make us feel because of his kindness.
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Thanks to everyone for making this journey happen!
Thanks to the representatives of the 15 startups for creating a diverse picture of the Vietnamese startup ecosystem AutoAgri, @Youth+, Rare, EJOY English, VVN AI, Nermen, Wiibike Vietnam, @tMonitor, Shecodes, Dimuadi, Mana.st straws, Moodsing, Outing, especially Apicoo Robotics (a startup incubated by Lab2Market - Bring Research to Life BK Holdings).
Thanks to the organizers BambuUP.com, AIT Vietnam and the sponsor SCE – Hanoi Investment and Planning for putting it together.
Thanks to all the partners in Korea for welcoming us and co-creating the growth of the next stage together.
Thanks to the bus driver, the tour guide for speaking our language to empathizing with us during the trip.
Thanks to each place we went to in Korea for making us feel home.
Thanks to life, for making us be a part of the masterpiece!
