Daejeon Alleys Become Investment Meeting Rooms… SIW Recruits Startups, Investors, and Experts

The success of a startup investment event depends more on whether participants can meet with the necessary investors and experts to initiate concrete discussions than on the number of attendees. In particular, regional startups must invest time and resources to establish contact with investment institutions concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area. Pre-matching tailored to areas of interest and growth stages serves as a mechanism to enhance investment reviews and the potential for business collaboration within the limited timeframe of the event. The Daejeon Center for Creative Economy and Innovation is hosting an Investment Week that connects startups, investors, and industry experts in the alleys of downtown Daejeon.

The Daejeon Center for Creative Economy Innovation is recruiting participants until August 21 for the 'Startup Korea Investment Week (SIW),' which will be held from September 1 to 3 in the area around Daejeon Startup Park in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, in conjunction with the 2026 Regional Startup Festival.

Now in its fourth year, SIW is a community-based "alley-style startup investment attraction event" that utilizes Daejeon Startup Park and nearby commercial districts as event spaces. Startups, domestic and international investors, global business stakeholders, and finance, legal, and tax experts gather in one place to discuss investment and business cooperation possibilities.

A key feature is that the event venue is dispersed across the spaces surrounding the Startup Park and commercial districts, rather than being concentrated in a single building. Participants can move throughout the region to engage in investment consultations and networking programs, while also experiencing Daejeon's startup infrastructure and local commercial areas.

The core program is the '1:1 Meetup,' which connects investors and experts with startups in advance. Participating startups can select the investors or experts they wish to meet in advance to receive investment pitches, business strategy consultations, and advice in fields such as finance, law, and taxation.

Investment firms can also pre-evaluate startups that match their industries of interest and investment stages. The structure reduces the time spent initially verifying company information at the event and facilitates conversations centered on specific topics such as technology, marketability, investment terms, and the possibility of follow-up review.

During the event, 1:1 meetups are held alongside investment IR sessions, global expansion support, specialized consultations by sector, recruitment linkages, and networking programs. It provides points of contact tailored to the specific needs of companies, ranging from early-stage firms preparing for investment to growth companies exploring overseas markets and talent acquisition.

The Daejeon Center for Creative Economy Innovation is enhancing its pre-matching system and expanding the range of participating entities this year. It aims to increase the likelihood of startups meeting their desired investors and experts, and provides support to facilitate continued discussions for investment review and business collaboration following the event.

Participants include investment firms, industry experts, and startups. Companies and organizations wishing to participate can apply through the official SIW website by August 21, where detailed program information and participation methods are also available.

Park Dae-hee, CEO of the Daejeon Creative Economy Innovation Center, said, “Startup Korea Investment Week is a venue where startups, investors, and experts meet to concretize the possibilities for practical investment and collaboration,” adding, “We will actively support promising startups so that they can discover new growth opportunities and leap into domestic and international markets.”

The value of SIW’s proposed alley-style operational approach lies in connecting investment meetings with local spaces into a single event experience. Substantive results are expected to be confirmed not only by the number of matches made during the event but also through instances where meetings led to follow-up IRs, due diligence, investment reviews, and business collaborations. Whether meetings initiated in the local area accumulate into a sustainable investment network will be the criterion determining SIW’s competitiveness.