Set for Thursday along Yeoksam-ro — Gangnam Employment and Startup Hub Center, ChangeUp Ground and Tips Town join forces
Programming spans the Startup World Cup Korea finals, an AI investment forum and a robotics lecture by Dennis Hong
Gangnam-gu will host "Start Track Week 2026" on Thursday along the Startup Street stretch of Yeoksam-ro.
The district has organized the annual event since 2021 in partnership with startup support organizations clustered along Yeoksam-ro, aiming to identify promising companies and foster networking among entrepreneurs. Three institutions are participating this year: the Gangnam Employment and Startup Hub Center, ChangeUp Ground — operated by Posco Holdings — and Tips Town, run by the Korea Business Angel Association.
This year's lineup spans competitions for companies eyeing global markets, talks on corporate growth strategies and investment trends in the AI era, and a look at the future of robotics.
At ChangeUp Ground Seoul, the "Gangnam Start Track Forum" opens at 1 p.m. under the theme "The Massive Business Built by Micro-Teams in the AI Era." Yoon Seok-won, chief executive of AI Works, and Jung Hye-in, chief executive of iTruck, will speak on strategies for boosting efficiency and scaling a business with small teams through AI.
At 3 p.m. in the same venue, the Startup World Cup Korea finals — organized by US venture capital firm Pegasus Tech Ventures — will determine which Korean company advances to the global competition in San Francisco in November. Fifteen domestic companies will compete, with cash prizes awarded to the top three finishers. The first-place company will receive support to participate in the world finals, where more than 3,000 participants, over 500 investors and upward of 1,000 startups are expected to gather alongside global companies including Apple, LinkedIn and Netflix. The overall winner receives $1 million in investment. The event is expected to give Korean companies a chance to meet overseas investors and corporate contacts, broadening their prospects for entering global markets.
The Gangnam Employment and Startup Hub Center will run its own programming focused on inter-company collaboration and global investment trends. At 10:30 a.m., a "Startup Collaboration Matching Day" will bring together companies based at the center and along Startup Street to introduce their technologies and projects and explore partnership opportunities. At 3:30 p.m., the "Gangnam Startup Forum" will follow, with Kim Beom-su, chief executive of Quantum Prime Ventures and a first-generation venture investment specialist, joining Silicon Valley investment experts to examine global AI investment trends and the outlook ahead.
In the evening, a public lecture will offer residents an accessible look at future robotics technology. At 6:30 p.m. in the multipurpose auditorium on the third floor of the Daechi 2-dong Community Cultural Center, Dennis Hong — a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at UCLA and a world-renowned roboticist — will speak. Drawing on humanoid robot research currently underway, he will explain how "physical AI" — robots that move and make decisions in real-world environments the way humans do — stands to reshape daily life and the workforce. Admission is free and open to all; details are available on the Gangnam Employment and Startup Hub Center website.
Full event details and program registration are available on the festival's official website.
"I hope this event gives startups a chance to find growth strategies for the AI era and explore pathways into global markets, while giving residents a close-up look at robots and future technology," Gangnam-gu District Mayor Kim Hyun-ki said. "We will strengthen cooperation among startup support institutions and develop the Yeoksam-ro Startup Street into a hub where companies, investment and talent converge."
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