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Google launches first campus for startups in Asia

(Xinhua)    19:56, May 08, 2015
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SEOUL, May 8  -- U.S. Internet giant GoogleInc. opened its Seoul Campus in South Koreaon Friday, its first Asian campus for nurturing local startups.

Located in the country's trendy Gangnam district, the new Seoul Campus plays a role as a community hub, where entrepreneurs come to learn, share ideas and launch startups. With the size of 2,000 square meters, the campus offers entrepreneurs co-working space, meeting rooms, library, cafe and other facilities needed for business.

Karim Temsamani, President of Google Asia Pacific said that he has witnessed a fast growth of Korean smaller companies in recent years. However, many startups are focusing locally, due to a lack of resources, know-how and connections.

"We kept looking for an investment that could help all startups in South Korea grow their global ambition, their global connections, their global talent," said Temsamani.

Around 1,000 entrepreneurs from 28 countries have visited the Seoul Campus during the first three weeks of test run, with females accounting for 22 percent, according to statistics provided by Google.

"I am so glad that Google Seoul Campus offering us a platform to meet with other startups who may run into the same difficulties as we had. We can share difficulties with each other and find a solution," said April Kim, the 33-year-old co-founder and CEO of the startups ChattingCat, a streamlined English writing assistant service.

Kim, who moved her team to Google Seoul Campus, added that she looked forward to meeting more women colleagues and mentors through the global networks and diverse women entrepreneurship programs that Campus Seoul provided.

Mary Grove, Director of Google for Entrepreneurs, explained that the flouring Korean startups and incredible growth of innovation is one of the most important reasons Google locate its first Asian campus in Seoul.

As a matter of fact, South Korea has already established centers for creative economy &innovations with the same function of Google campus to foster startups in 17 cities and provinces across the countries. Most of them are in collaborating with local large enterprises such as SK, Sumsung or Hyundai.

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye has put forward the " creative economy" as a key policy for her administration. In 2013, Korean government unveiled a 3.3-trillion won (3-billion U.S. dollars) fund to support start-ups over the next three years.

In 2012, Google launched its first campus in London. The community at Campus London has grown to more than 40,000 members, and startups there have created more than 1,800 new jobs, raising over 110 million U.S. dollars in funding. A campus in Israel's Tel Aviv has also been set up in December 2012. Google said it will soon establish campus in Warsaw and Sao Paulo.

(For the latest China news, Please follow People's Daily on Twitter and Facebook)(Editor:Du Mingming,Bianji)

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