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| N15 Partners founder and CEO Huh Jea, left, poses with Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Lee Chang-yang, second from left, and Tarek Fouad, second from right, head of growth at UAE-based Shorooq Partners, after signing a memorandum of understanding on nurturing startups in Korea and the UAE, at the Rixos Marina Abu Dhabi hotel, Jan. 16. Courtesy of N15 Partners |
By Baek Byung-yeul
Huh Jea, founder and CEO of local startup incubating company N15 Partners, said Thursday that the company is seeking to support Korean startups to advance into the Middle East market.
Huh was included in an economic delegation led by President Yoon Suk Yeol, who made a state visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) earlier this week.
As part of economic cooperation efforts between Korea and the Middle Eastern country, N15 Partners signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the UAE-based startup accelerator Shorooq Partners.
"Shorooq Partners, which does business in the Middle East market in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and Egypt, plans to jointly discover, foster and invest in startups in the smart city sector with N15 Partners," the company said.
Established in 2018, N15 Partners is a startup accelerator certified by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.
"We will help domestic startups with excellent technology in smart cities, games and Web3 to expand into the Middle East. By providing them opportunities to connect with local UAE companies, we will try to create a Middle East boom," Huh said.
The company said it already has experience in the Middle East market, matching local startups with companies there.
In December 2022, the company also successfully operated the Eco-Bridge Project together with the Embassy of the UAE in Korea so as to support promising startups entering the Middle Eastern country.
Shorooq Partners is a venture capital company established in the UAE in 2016 and has five bases in the Middle East. As of January 2023, it has invested in about 90 startups in 11 countries around the world and the startups' corporate value has grown to around 3 trillion won ($2.42 billion).
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