by RUTH KIM
Get excited, Korean entrepreneurs. “Campus is coming to Seoul,” announced Google on its Asia Pacific Blog, and it’s going to bring a wealth of resources and global opportunities for the brightest, most innovative minds in South Korea.
“We hope Campus Seoul can add a bit more jet fuel to a startup ecosystem that is already taking off [in Korea],” said Sundar Pichai, a senior vice president at Google.
For those unfamiliar with Google Campuses, these spaces are beacons of light for start-up entrepreneurs, “community hubs” where conceptual ideas can materialize and innovators can join a network of thinkers and launch great companies.
Simon Lee, the co-founder of Flitto, a smartphone translation app (photo via Google’s Asia Pacific blog).
“Doing a startup is lonely,” said Simon Lee, the co-founder of Flitto, a smartphone translation app that helps people overcome language barriers. “It’s like being left naked in the Alaskan tundra, with no grass or warmth in sight, and nobody to tell you where to get them. You need a place where someone can point the way to survive and accompany you on your journey.”
That’s where Google Campus steps in, and it’s open to people on many different journeys, from young college students to stay-at-home moms. Campus Seoul will provide mentorship programs including Campus for Moms, a kid-friendly space where moms can meet “like-minded entrepreneurs and make progress on their big idea,” and CampusEDU, a program that provides Office Hours with Googlers (mentors), Campus Talks, and Workshops.
Campus Seoul was announced along with the forthcoming Campus Warsaw and Campus Sao Paulo, and these hubs will join Google’s expanding networks in Campus London and Campus Tel Aviv.
The Google for Entrepreneurs program has already assisted a host of young Korean companies through its collaboration with many different startup launchers, including the Global K-Startup program, KStartup Accelerator, Startup Weekend, Startup Grind, and Startup Nations (coming soon), according to the blog.
“We value starting small but dreaming big,” reads an advertisement on the Google for Entrepreneurs website. This motto seems fitting for South Korea, a famously small country known for its big ideas and even greater achievements–and it seems like it’s only going to get bigger from here.
Top photo via Campuses website.
