South Summit Korea brings together world experts in AI and Deep Tech in its first edition from September 25 to 27

South Summit Korea, co-organized by IE University, in collaboration with the Government of Gyeonggi and GBSA (Gyenggido Business & Science Accelerator), will bring together more than 80 world experts in Artificial Intelligence and Deep Tech. This is the first edition of the SS Korea Championship, which will be held from September 25 to 27 in Suwon (Gyeonggi Province).

Of the speakers meeting at South Summit Korea, 43 come from outside the country. Additionally, 32% represent startups and scaleups that have managed to stand out in these technologies, such as Paddle, LottieFiles, k-ID, Asteroid Technologies, DeepX, Rebellions.AI or TIER IV, among others.

At the opening of SS Korea, Diego del Alcázar Benjumea, CEO of IE University, will talk about ‘Startup 101: Student Life to Entrepreneurial Success’ with Eric Sim, author of the book Small Actions: Leading Your Career To Big Success.

For his part, Ryo Kawashima, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, will share a conversation with Juan José Güemes, Vice President of Economic at IE University and President of the IE Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the conference "Going Global: the Map to APAC."

In addition, Dennis Hong, professor at the University of California (UCLA); Ryan Son, Managing Director of Rakuten Symphony for Singapore and South Korea, and Jaesik Choi, Professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST), are part of the South Summit Korea 2024 program. Hong will focus his speech on the application of AI in robotic systems, while Son will talk about the role of AI in integrating communications, cloud storage systems and IoT services. For his part, Choi will talk about AI models applied in various industrial sectors. 

María Benjumea, president and founder of South Summit, and Diego del Alcázar, will be responsible for inaugurating South Summit Korea 2024 . 

"With this new event in Korea we want to show the world the latest trends in these technologies, that are set to change our lives and jobs, but we also aim to connect with the vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystems of Asia and Europe."
María Benjumea, president and founder of South Summit

For his part, Nacho Mateo, CEO of South Summit, will participate together with Dongok Riso Ahn, CEO of The Garrison, and Stella Yoh, director at Orbital, in the panel "Founders Scaling: Bridging Challenges & Opportunities".

CEOs and founders of scaleups and startups expert in AI and Deep Tech, such as Se-yeong Lee, CEO of WRTN, and Lokwon Kim, CEO of DEEPX – recipient of funding of up to $130 million, will be some of the participants. They will be joined by executives and investors who are experts in these matters such as: Kiha Lee, Managing Partner of Primer Sazze Partners; Yongmin Cho, CIO of undboundlab and former executive at Google, Accenture, IBM and Samsung; Shinpei Kato, CEO of TIER IV, and Lakshmi Jagannathan, from the International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore (IITB), among others.

In addition, South Summit Korea 2024 will also feature the participation of leaders from large local companies in Asia and internationally, such as AWS, NVIDIA, Rakuten Symphony, Kakao, LinkedIn and Naver Cloud.

The best AI and Deep Tech startups, at South Summit Korea

The first edition of South Summit Korea will also be the stage on which the 30 finalist startups of the  Startup Competition will compete to be crowned the best startup in the fields of Deep Tech and Artificial Intelligence. The finalist projects have been chosen from more than 420 applications submitted from 62 different countries.

Among the finalists are 3 Spanish startups: ClassInTheBox, a Madrid-based startup that creates digital content ensuring improvements in interaction with users; ExportManager.AI, a new AI tool from the Valencian Community that helps companies export their products, ensuring the best sales conditions; and Aima Beyond, a Barcelona-based AI startup offering a companion service for individuals living in solitude or facing vulnerable situations.

About South Summit

South Summit is the global platform that brings together all the players in the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem to promote the development of business opportunities among all of them. Its main event is South Summit Madrid, co-organised by IE University, which has hosted more than 42,500 startups in its thirteen previous editions. Its Startup Competition, which has produced 7 unicorns, has generated more than 1,000 finalist startups, with a survival rate of 90% and $16.2 billion in investment raised.

The 13th edition of South Summit Madrid brought together more than 18,000 attendees from 133 countries, including more than 6,500 entrepreneurs, more than 2,000 investors with an investment portfolio exceeding $500 billion  -an increase of $174 billion more than last year-, and more than 6,000 corporate representatives from around the world, along with 26 internationally renowned unicorns.

Following visits to Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Chile and Argentina, South Summit held its third edition in Brazil, also co-organised with IE University, in March of this year. This edition brought together over 23,500 attendees from 55 countries, including more than 3,000 startups and 900 investment funds. These investors were ready to support the best innovative ideas from around the world, backed by a portfolio of $213 billion. South Summit Brazil is already gearing up for its fourth edition, which will take place between 9 and 11 April 2025.