KITA bridges large firms and startups in smart city, construction tech push

The Korea International Trade Association co-hosted the Smart City & Construction Open Innovation Day on Monday at COEX Startup Branch in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, together with the Seoul Business Agency and the creative economy innovation centers of Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon.

The event was designed to connect the on-site technology needs of large construction and smart city companies with innovative startups, with the aim of identifying opportunities for proof-of-concept trials and commercialization partnerships. About 100 people attended, including representatives from large companies, investors and startups in the sector.

Lotte Engineering & Construction, Hyundai Engineering & Construction, Hoban Construction and SK Ecoplant each participated through a reverse-pitching format — in which large companies present the technologies they need and the challenges they want solved, rather than startups pitching their own businesses — to lay out their collaboration needs, technical requirements and proof-of-concept opportunities. The four key areas of cooperation were smart construction and safety management, AI and digital twins, eco-friendly technology and energy, and smart buildings and urban operations.

A series of one-on-one consultations followed, with KITA matching large companies and investors with startups based on advance applications, enabling individual meetings and networking.

"I hope this event gives large companies a chance to innovate on the ground and provides startups with a springboard for growth, raising the global competitiveness of Korea's construction industry to the next level," said Executive Vice President Jang Seok-min of KITA. "We will continue to provide follow-up support so that the collaboration needs discussed today can lead to proof-of-concept trials and commercialization."

In the first half of this year, KITA pursued a total of 10 open innovation projects with domestic and overseas companies and institutions, including HL Group and SK Ecoplant. Through those efforts, it recruited 309 startups, held one-on-one meetups with 104 of them, and is currently supporting 16 companies with proof-of-concept trials and follow-on cooperation.

Meanwhile, KITA also hosted the 2026 LA K-Premium Consumer Goods Fair at the Magic Box exhibition venue in Los Angeles from Thursday to Saturday (local time), as part of its broader push to help Korean companies expand into global markets.