Seoul Startup Hub: tenancy and programmes at the Gongdeok campus
서울창업허브 입주와 지원사업
Seoul Startup Hub is a city-funded startup campus in Mapo-gu, operated by the Seoul Business Agency. Its own site lists Global Expansion, Open Innovation, Investment and Try Everything as its four programme lines; the Seoul Metropolitan Government describes it as the city's largest startup incubator, opened in June 2017.
On this page
Seoul runs more than one city-funded startup building, and the names blur together. Seoul Startup Hub is the Seoul Business Agency's campus in Gongdeok. Its own site is specific about what it actually runs.
A Seoul Business Agency campus, not a national one
The hub's own site names the Seoul Business Agency as its operator. That is a Seoul Metropolitan Government foundation. It places the hub under the city, not a ministry such as MSS or KISED.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government's own site adds the opening date. It dates the hub to June 2017 and calls it the country's largest startup incubator. The address is 21 Baekbeom-ro 31-gil, Mapo-gu, near Gongdeok Station.
Four programme lines, each its own track
The operator's site groups its work into four named lines: Global Expansion, Open Innovation, Investment and Try Everything. Each is its own track, not one blanket membership.
Try Everything is a recurring festival. Its secretariat works out of this hub. Try Everything 2026 is EastStartup's own coverage of that round.
A "Kitchen Incubator" is also part of the campus. It targets founders preparing a restaurant business, with individual kitchen access and mentoring separate from the four main lines.
What the site does not publish
The operator's site, as fetched, prints no standing foreign-founder eligibility rule. It also has no current floor-by-floor breakdown or live tenant count. Those questions route to whichever programme's own notice is open.
Where it fits next to the other Seoul-named centres
A search for "Seoul startup support" tends to merge Seoul Startup Hub with Seoul Global Startup Center and the GSC/Seoul Global Center/KOTRA comparison. They are separate bodies.
Seoul Startup Hub's own scope is general-purpose company building and market expansion, run by the city's business agency. It is not the foreign-founder-specific remit of Seoul Global Startup Center, or the settlement services of Seoul Global Center.
Use the ecosystem guide to see how Seoul Startup Hub relates to the bodies it is easily confused with.
Frequently asked questions
- What is Seoul Startup Hub?
- A startup campus in Gongdeok, Mapo-gu, operated by the Seoul Business Agency, a Seoul Metropolitan Government foundation. The city's own site describes it as opened in June 2017.
- What programmes does it run?
- Its own site names four lines: Global Expansion, Open Innovation, Investment and Try Everything, plus a separate Kitchen Incubator for restaurant founders.
- Can a foreign-founded company apply?
- The operator's site does not publish a standing eligibility rule for foreign founders. Eligibility is set on the specific notice for whichever programme is currently recruiting.
- Is this the same as Seoul Global Startup Center?
- No. Seoul Startup Hub is run by the Seoul Business Agency in Mapo-gu for general company building; Seoul Global Startup Center is a separate Seoul Metropolitan Government facility in Yongsan-gu built specifically for foreign founders.
- Where is it?
- 21 Baekbeom-ro 31-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, near Gongdeok Station, per the Seoul Metropolitan Government's own site.
Sources
Everything above is the rule as published. See how it applies to your case.
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