KAIA Hosts Summit to Shift Startup Investment Paradigm in Busan
The Korea Startup Accelerator and Early Stage Investors Association (KAIA) opened the 2026 Startup Investor Summit at the Busan Artis Hotel on the 29th, launching two days of programming that continues through the 30th. Co-hosted by Busan Metropolitan City and the Busan Technology Startup Investment Center, the summit runs until 6 p.m. on opening day and brings together leading accelerators (ACs), venture capital firms (VCs), limited partners (LPs), and regional innovation organizations under the theme “Beyond Investment Capital: Shaking the Paradigm.”
Navigating Headwinds to Find a New Inflection Point
Against a backdrop of high interest rates, tighter investment flows, and global uncertainty, the summit focuses on how South Korea’s startup and venture ecosystem can adapt and thrive. Participants are examining models that go beyond traditional capital deployment to emphasize company building, trust infrastructure, and long-term ecosystem design.
Setting the Tone: Accelerators as Ecosystem Architects
KAIA Chair Jeon Hwa-seong underscored that accelerator fund sizes are expected to more than double year-over-year, signaling both momentum and responsibility for the sector. He urged ACs to evolve from pure investors into ecosystem designers—institutions that enable sustainable growth, cultivate founders, and provide the trust backbone that early-stage markets require.
Keynote: Scaling the Company-Builder Model
In the keynote session, Park Ji-woong, CEO of Fast Track Asia, explores a decade of lessons from building companies rather than solely backing them. He outlines how the company-builder approach designs business models from the ground up, embeds operational expertise, and accelerates growth. Fast Track Asia’s portfolio has produced ventures such as shared office provider Fast Five, adult learning platform Day One Company, and early-stage investor Fast Ventures—examples that illustrate how hands-on creation can complement or surpass traditional venture strategies.
Main Session: The 2026 AC Market and the Next 10 Years
Jeon Hwa-seong’s main-session presentation examines the evolving roles of accelerators. Two distinct tracks are emerging: “VC-type” ACs that manage larger pools of capital to support scale-up stages, and “general-type” ACs that broaden the ecosystem’s base through early discovery and nurturing of founders. The session explores how these trajectories may reshape investment structures, the division of labor across capital providers, and the pathways from seed to exit.
Panel: A Decade of Early-Stage Investing and What Changes Next
A panel featuring leaders from across the ecosystem—Lee Yong-gwan (Bluepoint Partners), Park Dae-hee (Daejeon Creative Economy Innovation Center), Hong Jong-cheol (InfoBank iAccel), and Myeong Seung-eun (Venture Square)—reflects on how early-stage investment has evolved over the last ten years. The discussion addresses shifting founder needs, sector-specific dynamics, and how venture paradigms are adapting to market cycles, technology shifts, and globalization. Panelists also consider what collaborative models among ACs, VCs, corporates, and public institutions will be required to keep the pipeline robust and resilient.
Special Session: Blueprint for “Global Startup City Busan”
In a special session, Song Kang-guk, Director of the Busan Technology Startup Investment Center, introduces a comprehensive strategy to position Busan as a global startup hub. The blueprint integrates support programs, investment, physical space, and international linkages into a single, coordinated platform. It also tailors support by company maturity—ensuring that ideation, early traction, scale-up, and global expansion each receive targeted resources within a unified system.
LP and Secondary Fund Perspectives: Building a Virtuous Cycle
The final LP-focused session brings together Busan Metropolitan Government, Korea Venture Investment Corporation, and the Agricultural Policy Insurance & Finance Service to share policy directions and 2026 investment priorities. Complementing these perspectives, Future Science & Technology Holdings and Rising S Ventures outline strategies for secondary funds, emphasizing the importance of robust exit pathways and liquidity to recycle capital back into new innovation. The conversation centers on practical steps to invigorate secondary markets, strengthen later-stage financing, and complete the cycle from seed to successful exit.
Why It Matters
The 2026 Startup Investor Summit underscores a pivotal shift in South Korea’s early-stage ecosystem: capital alone is not enough. By advancing company building, clarifying accelerator roles, and aligning public-private strategies—from foundational support to secondary market development—the summit aims to catalyze a more resilient and self-sustaining investment environment. As participants collaborate in Busan, the outcomes could set the tone for how startups across the country navigate uncertainty, unlock growth, and compete on the global stage.
