Satellogic wins top honors at Korea-Lac Startup Pitch Day

Contxto – Like one of its nanosatellites hovering above the stratosphere, Satellogic sure has a global reach. After recently launching in the United Kingdom, India, not to mention signing a trade agreement with ABDAS from China, the Argentine startup recently found success in South Korea.

On October 8, it took away top honors as Best Startup at the Korea-Latin America and the Caribbean Business Summit.

Taking place in Seoul, the summit meant to expand and strengthen commercial ties between Korean, Latin American and Caribbean countries. Keeping this in mind, it also sought to provide a better understanding of investment and trading opportunities between the regions.

Korea-Lac Startup Pitch Day

During the summit coordinated by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the platform Born2Global, the finale for Korea-Lac Startup Pitch Day took place. This competition encouraged tech startups seeking to expand their business in South Korea.

A total of 24 startups from various industries participated. Many came from the agrotech, biotech, logistics, edutech, healthtech, as well as mobility sectors. Out of these startups, 18 represented Latin America while six came from South Korea. Ultimately, Satellogic was crowned as the winner for its geospatial analytics solution.

Combining AI and satellite observation data, the company is capable of effectively monitoring agricultural, forestry and energy systems. To accomplish this, it develops ultra-light nanosatellites to monitor the Earth. This way, companies can utilize geospatial data to improve operations.

Besides Satellogic representing the region, other startups came from Argentina, Colombia, in addition to Uruguay.

Additionally, close to 200 international and domestic firms came to identify new investment opportunities. Based on reports, the value of investment promotions amounted to US$15 million during the event.

For Latin American partners, functions such as these yield great economic potential for every player.

“The greatest power to create new jobs and revitalize the economy is by cross-entry through innovative companies,” shared Luis Alberto Moreno, president of the IDB.

“This a great opportunity to get to know Latin America, which is a strategic base for Korea. We want to build active cooperative relationships between companies in South America and Central America.”

Latin America and South Korea collaboration

According to reports, some promising projects have recently emerged from this event. For example, uSound from Argentina has reportedly linked up with The Open to develop audio hearing tests. Together, they will expand upon customized sound delivery technology.

Moreover, Pincer Games from Uruguay will allegedly be meeting with Smilegate from South Korea to discuss a publishing contract. Also from Uruguay, the international e-commerce provider Nocturne met with South Korea’s Dileo, an international logistics IT platform, to discuss mutual work.

“Korea and Latin America companies have demonstrated excellent technology and local business performance, and have attracted good response to domestic and foreign investors and large corporations,” said Jong-Gap Kim, Head of Bonto Global Center. “We will actively promote contracts and investment attraction.”

Satellogic in Asia

Safe to say that Satellogic will continue giving Contxto something to talk about. Even after winning Korea-Lac Startup Pitch Day, the company continued to participate in the Asian startup ecosystem. On October 10, it also attended the Asian Conference on Remote Sensing 2019 edition.  

-CZ