Two Catalan startups participate in acceleration program K-Ground in Korea

• MOCA and Natural Machines have been selected by Catalonia Trade & Investment’s office in Seoul and the Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development (KISED) to take part in a 10-day program that promotes collaboration between startups from all over the world and Korean companies.

Two Catalan startups have been selected to take part in K-Ground, a 10-day acceleration program in Korea aimed at promoting the collaboration and exchange of ideas between startups from all over the world and Korean companies. The program will take place from September 23rd to October 2nd in Pangyo Tecno Valley, also known as the ‘Korean Silicon Valley’. The Catalan startups MOCA Platform and Natural Machines have been chosen by Catalonia Trade & Investment’s office in Seoul together with the Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development (KISED) to take part in this acceleration program.

During the program, the Catalan companies will have the opportunity to take part in networking events with the Korean startup ecosystem and with international corporates, SMEs and startups. Therefore, through this program, the Catalan startups will be able to understand how the Asian market works. MOCA is a mobile engagement platform which offers personalised mobile recommendations in real-time through machine learning and location-based technology, while Natural Machines will introduce Foodini, a 3D food printing kitchen appliance that enables the personalization of nutrition and improves cooking efficiency.

South Korea is the world’s most connected country, as over 88% of its population has access to the Internet, besides having the fastest average net speed in the world and a highly-developed Industry 4.0 infrastructure. On the other hand, Catalonia gathers over 1,300 startups and is the Southern Europe’s largest entrepreneurial hub, employing almost 14,000 people according to the Barcelona & Catalonia Startup Hub. The most dynamic fields in the Catalan startup ecosystem are Industry 4.0 (17%), life sciences (13%) and mobile and software technologies (11%).