[KITA News] A Letter of Intent to offer testbeds for start-ups was signed between KITA and the Barcelona city government

     

A Letter of Intent to offer testbeds for start-ups was signed between KITA and the Barcelona city government

Korean start-ups will be provided support to make inroads into the European market by taking advantage of Barcelona as a gateway - a city enthusiastic with innovation in the European region

 

The Korea International Trade Association (KITA, Chairman: Christopher Koo) signed a Letter of Intent to offer testbeds for start-ups with the City of Barcelona on August 31 at COEX, Samseong-dong in Seoul. The two parties committed to continue collaboration to support Korean start-ups in entering the European market.

Barcelona was ranked as the second most innovative city, popular among entrepreneurs in Europe. As of 2021, Barcelona-based start-ups increased by 11% to at least 1,900 start-ups compared to 2020.

Considering these advantages, KITA has selected Barcelona as a gateway for Korean start-ups to enter the European market. KITA collaborated with the Barcelona city government since last year to open two rounds of testbed projects at key landmark areas, including Casa Batllo - Gaudi Barcelona and Westfield Glories shopping mall to verify and assess the feasibility of innovative technologies owned by Korean start-ups.

On the day when this Letter of Intent was signed, Pau Solanilla, the Commissioner of City Promotion from the Barcelona city government said, “We have proposed signing a Letter of Intent to engage in continuous cooperation with Korea since technologies owned by Korean start-ups are contributing to injecting positive energy to Barcelona, including innovative spirit and strengthened competitiveness to the city.” Mr. Solanilla added, “We wish to establish cooperation with start-ups specializing in the areas in which we are paying interest recently, including environment, response to climate change, sustainability and games.”

Seok-min Jang, the Head of the Digital Innovation Group at KITA, mentioned, “We are committed to forging a stronger collaborative relation with Barcelona by taking today’s signing of the Letter of Intent as an opportunity.” Mr. Jang also added, “There is an ongoing plan to open a testbed project at a logistics center in the Port of Barcelona next year.”

After the Letter of Intent was signed, a pitching event and a networking event with the delegation from the Barcelona city government also took place.

By - KITA.Net (http://kita.org/about/newsView.do?id=&no=2730&searchWrd=&pageIndex=1)