In line with South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s state visit to France, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency on Monday released a report highlighting Europe as the place to be for Korean startups.

According to the report, Europe has concentrated efforts on creating an ecosystem for startups as its strategy for survival in the “fourth industrial revolution.”

London, Berlin, Paris, Stockholm, and Amsterdam ranked among the world’s leading 20 startup ecosystems, according to a 2017 report by Startup Genome. In addition, investments in startups in Europe soared 84 percent on-year to $19.1 billion in 2017, according to data from Ernst & Young.

“Startups will work as an energizer in innovating economic and industrial structures and creating jobs. Foraying overseas is a shortcut for startups to grow,” said KOTRA CEO Kwon Pyung-oh.

Kwon added he hopes the Korea-France Startup Summit on Monday in Paris would be a stepping stone for Korea to bolster cooperation with Europe.

Among partners Europe-based startups work with, non-European partners make up roughly 21 percent, exceeding the 12.8 percent average in other regions, the report said.

Based on the figures the agency said that entering Europe could help the growth of Korean startups.

Among Korean startups that have entered overseas markets, 61.6 percent are located in Northeast Asia and 10.1 percent in Europe, the agency said.

It pointed out that the Korean government and state-run agencies need to step up support for entrepreneurs, as the proportion of Korean startups’ overseas partners stands at 14 percent, falling far behind the global average of 23 percent.

Korean startups could advance into Europe through incubators and accelerators there, along with partnerships via corporate venture capital, the agency suggested.

Seven Korean financial technology enterprises are located at the UK’s well-renowned fintech accelerator Level39. 

By Kim Bo-gyung (lisakim425@heraldcorp.com)