The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS, Minister OH Youngju) announced that it held the ‘K-Startup X France Meetup Day’ event on Thursday, May 8 at the Seoul Global Startup Center. The event was co-hosted by MSS and the Embassy of France in Korea to commemorate the new participation of three French companies - Thales, L’Oréal Korea, and Air Liquide - in the Collaboration Program with Global Companies, a flagship public-private startup support initiative by MSS starting in 2025.

The Collaboration Program with Global Companies is a global open innovation initiative in which the government and leading global corporations collaborate to support the growth of Korean startups and create opportunities for their entry into overseas markets. Launched in 2019 through a partnership between MSS and Google Play, the program has seen an annual increase in the number of participating global companies, with a total of 13 companies* participating in 2025.

With Dassault Systèmes, which has participated in the program since 2020, and the newly joined Thales, L’Oréal Korea, and Air Liquide, a total of four major French corporations are participating in the collaboration program in 2025, joining forces to foster K-startups.

* Google Play, NVIDIA, Microsoft, Dassault Systèmes, Ansys Korea, Siemens, AWS (Amazon Web Services), Oracle, IBM, Intel, Thales, L’Oréal Korea, Air Liquide

Dassault Systèmes, a global leader in manufacturing software, has been operating the Daonda program since 2020 to support startups in the pharmaceutical, bio, and healthcare sectors by providing solution licenses such as BIOVIA, along with technical training and consulting. From 2020 to 2024, a total of 113 startups have enhanced their technological capabilities through the Daonda program.

L’Oréal Group, the world’s leading global beauty company, signed an MOU with MSS in 2023 to support startups in the beauty tech sector. Since then, L’Oréal Korea has maintained a close partnership with MSS and has been operating the Big Bang program in Korea since 2023. Starting in 2025, it has officially joined the collaboration program to identify and support startups in the fields of digital and research innovation.

Thales, a global leader in aerospace and cybersecurity, plans to operate the ‘Trust My Tech’ program to discover promising deep-tech startups and support them with access to the Thales cloud platform, technical and business consulting, and specialized training by sector.

Lastly, Air Liquide, a global industrial gas company, operates the ‘N.E.O (New Energy-transition Opportunity)’ program to identify promising startups in eco-friendly energy sectors such as hydrogen and secondary batteries and support their technological advancement and business growth.

The ‘K-Startup X France Meetup Day’ event brought together the companies selected through a public call to participate in the four programs, marking their first meeting with the global corporations. French corporate representatives, including JUNG Woon-sung, CEO of Dassault Systèmes Korea; Nicolas Bouverot, Vice President of Thales Group Asia; Francois Piolet, CEO of Thales Korea; Samuel du Retail, CEO of L’Oréal Korea; and Nicolas Foirien, CEO of Air Liquide Korea, attended the event to encourage the startups selected for their respective programs.

The Embassy of France in Korea and La French Tech Seoul, both of which have shown strong interest in and support for collaboration between French corporations and Korean startups, also participated in the event. Philippe Bertoux, Ambassador of France to Korea, delivered congratulatory remarks, stating, “The Embassy will actively support more French companies in collaborating with K-startups and in connecting the startup ecosystems of both countries,” and offered words of encouragement to the participating companies.

Meanwhile, at the event, MSS announced the new name of the Collaboration Program with Global Companies as “Around X.” Marking its seventh year in 2025, the program has delivered outstanding outcomes and established itself as one of MSS’ flagship startup support initiatives. To enhance its identity with a more distinctive and symbolic title, MSS decided to rebrand the program. After gathering input from dedicated institutions, implementing agencies, global corporations, and startups, the new name Around X was confirmed. Around X embodies the vision of creating infinite possibilities through connection and expansion.

In her congratulatory remarks at the K-Startup X France Meetup Day event, Minister OH Youngju stated, “France, with its innovative startup ecosystem, is a key partner for Korea in the startup sector.” She added, “I sincerely thank the leading French global companies for their interest in and support for K-startups.”

She concluded by saying, “The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will continue to provide full support to ensure that the rebranded Collaboration Program with Global Companies, now starting anew as ‘Around X,’ becomes a platform for continued collaboration between global corporations and Korean startups.”