Attendees crowded the aisles and walls, eager to hear from Marc Manara, Head of Startups at OpenAI. This turnout illustrates how AI has become a pivotal factor in the growth of startups and the competitiveness of industries.
The "NextRise 2026" event, co-hosted by the Korea Development Bank and the Korea International Trade Association, kicked off on June 18 at COEX in Seoul. This year's event is the largest ever, transforming from a startup exhibition into a platform for showcasing national strategic technologies. Numerous advanced technology companies, including those in AI, defense, robotics, and drones, participated.
During his presentation, Manara stated, "The use of AI in startups is expanding across various tasks, including code writing, searching, briefing, and content creation." He noted that in the past nine months, advancements in AI models and agent functionalities have broadened their applications to web searches, tool invocation, customer support, and prototype development. He also highlighted that the number of users for OpenAI's coding agent, Codex, has surpassed 5 million.
Interest in AI and strategic technologies continued in the exhibition hall. After the opening ceremony, Kwon Dae-young, Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission; Park Sang-jin, Chairman of the Korea Development Bank; and Yoon Jin-sik, Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association, were among the first to visit the NVIDIA booth. The NVIDIA showcase featured participation from 11 companies, including 10 South Korean startups and one from Taiwan.
They also explored the robotics and drone experience zone, where companies like Alice M1, specializing in bipedal humanoids, and Kaiden, focusing on autonomous drones, showcased their technologies, attracting the attention of attendees. This year's event has evolved beyond merely promoting startups to a platform for assessing the current state of national strategic technologies in AI, defense, and robotics.
The financial authorities emphasized the need to support strategic technology startups. Vice Chairman Kwon stated, "We will continue efforts to improve the KOSDAQ market and support the listing of innovative companies." He underscored the importance of strategic investments to secure future security and market dominance amid intensifying technological competition.
More than 540 domestic and international startups set up booths at the event, with over 270 large and medium-sized enterprises and venture capital firms participating. Additionally, one-on-one business consultations were arranged with over 1,100 startups that had been pre-matched.
The Korea Development Bank highlighted its role in connecting startups with large corporations, venture capitalists, and global companies, going beyond just providing funding. Chairman Park Sang-jin remarked, "The innovative ideas of startups are the blueprint for the future we will create. This year's NextRise will serve as a canvas to capture your ideas and insights."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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