Global Hackathon Seoul Will 'Create An Influx Of Hackathons In Korea'

Global Hackathon Seoul is coming to South Korea this summer -- and it just might be what the country needs to attract more hackathons. "It will definitely be an interesting event," Steven Baek, director of marketing at FuturePlay, told Benzinga. "And I think the government has been doing a lot in the Korean startup world to support the growth of startups in Korea. This will actually create an influx of hackathons in Korea, too." Baek said that a hackathon is a "great entry way for engineers to learn more about startups and get their foot in the door." But they are not without challenges. Thus far, these events have not been as popular (or held as frequently) in South Korea as they have been in the United States. "But I think the biggest problem with [the] hackathon [concept] is it needs to be connected both ways," said Baek. "A lot of the hackathons in the States are held by big startups or big tech companies who are overseeing the whole process and the end result is something substantial." In South Korea, companies like LG and SAMSUNG ELECT LTD(F) SSNLF have yet to grasp the importance of these events. That could change now that Global Hackathon Seoul has attracted its first headline sponsor. "There are two reasons they would care about hackathons: finding talent and finding new creative ideas for a product," Baek continued. Baek said that, compared to Silicon Valley, there are a lot of engineers in South Korea. Their salaries are low and companies tend to overlook the value of hackathons to find top-tier talent. "[HR professionals here] don't really have an eye for finding a good engineer," he said. "I guess to them every engineer looks the same. They don't really try to hold any events to find the best one out of the pot. Also, for new ideas, creativity and new product ideas are not really encouraged in Korea as much as in the States." Baek hopes he can change this perception and help South Korea evolve into a nation that flourishes with entrepreneurs launching their own enterprises. "Right now we're the only ones doing this," said Baek, referring to FuturePlay's strategy to help entrepreneurs get started. "Hopefully in the future we'll have more players helping out with this initiative." Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report.