The APEC Startup Alliance (ASTAA) was officially launched today at Startup Venture Campus Seoul (SVC Seoul), marking the beginning of a new chapter in startup ecosystem cooperation across the Asia-Pacific region. Delegations from all 21 APEC member economies, alongside ecosystem stakeholders including global venture capitalists, accelerates, and startups, gathered for the inaugural ceremony from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
 
The event was hosted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), and organized in partnership with the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME), Korea Institute of Startup and Entrepreneurship Development (KISED), Korea Venture Investment (KVIC), and Korea Technology Finance Corporation (KOTEC). Around 200 participants attended.
 
ASTAA’s launch has been in the making since last year’s APEC SME Ministerial Meeting, where Korea announced the Jeju Initiative – formally setting out the vision for an APEC-wide startup cooperation framework. Today’s ceremony marks the transition from concept to action, activating a structure that bring both governments and the private sector to the table as full participants.
 
The alliance currently counts approximately 400 institutional and private stakeholders among its members, including startup founder associations, government agencies, accelerators, venture capital firms, and startups from across member economies – among them the Korea Startup Forum.
 
ASTAA is designed to connect startup ecosystems across APEC member economies and expand multilateral cooperation through several concrete channels. These include building networks among startup ecosystem stakeholders across member economies, hosting regular forums, and establishing an online platform for sharing startup ecosystem information and policy best practices.
 
The alliance will facilitate the voluntary collaboration and joint project development among private sector participants, and will use major international events as opportunities to share progress and deepen cooperation across member economies.
 
The inaugural ceremony was followed immediately by the 1^st ASTAA Forum, where participants discussed the direction of startup ecosystem cooperation and connectivity across APEC member economies.
 
On the sidelines, a series of practical sessions reinforced the alliance’s commitment to delivering tangible outcomes from day one. These included a global investor relations (IR) session bringing together KVIC, KISED, KOTEC, global venture capital firms, large corporates, and startups from multiple countries; one-on-one meetups for business partnership development; and technology value-based guarantee consultations hosted by KOTEC – all aimed at supporting cross-border investment, partnership building, and market entry across the region.
 
“We hope that the innovation emerging from the startup ecosystems now connected through the APEC Startup Alliance will grow into broader cooperation and shared prosperity,” said Minister Han Seong-Sook.
 

For more news and updates on Korea’s SME and startup policies, follow the Ministry’s official LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mss1357