About the Springboard Programme
The Youth SDG innovation platform for Asia-Pacific
REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Youth Co:Lab Korea is co-led by the UNDP Seoul Policy Centre and Citi Foundation in partnership with local partners in Korea such as the Citypreneurs network. With the aim to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through leadership, social innovation, and entrepreneurship, the programme provides capacity building, networking and investment support to young impact entrepreneurs in Korea and within the Asia Pacific region. Since 2018, Youth:Co Lab Korea has brought support to over 180 impact-driven entrepreneurs and their ecosystem enablers.
Impact Collective
Youth Co:Lab Korea’s signature programme is Impact Collective. It is a community-driven acceleration programme for startups focusing on opportunities in Asia and the Pacific. It aims to provide acceleration and investment support, as well as connect startups that tackle global challenges to accelerate the achievement of SDGs. Since 2020, Impact Collective has grown to a regional scale, and has been virtually hosted by four innovative cities: Seoul (Republic of Korea), Ho Chi Minh City (Viet Nam), Singapore (Singapore), and Bangkok (Thailand).
Impact Ecosystem Mapping Dialogue / Policy Dialogue
Impact Ecosystem Mapping Dialogue and Policy Dialogue are key elements of Youth Co:Lab Korea’s national programme, organized to promote a further sustainable and inclusive local impact ecosystem and policy setting. It brings together diverse stakeholders including not only the startups, but also investors, accelerators, policy makers, civil society and academia to collectively exchange knowledge from different viewpoints, and to ultimately work towards bringing about tangible actions for further development of the impact ecosystem.
Acceleration
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Office Hours: Private sessions with industry, regional and social impact experts to help formulate the best strategy for participants to maximize their social impact and business outcomes.
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Impact Sessions: Sessions to help participants with their impact-profit alignment and covering the SDGs framework as public-private value proposition, impact storytelling linked to larger systemic change in their industry, and refining impact metrics for data validation.
Networking
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Community Activity: Participants can learn from each other during a series of curated activities with the Impact Collective community. The community consists of people from all walks of life who care about social impact, particularly in Asia and the Pacific.
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Homegroup: Networking opportunity to exchange ideas, insights, and resources. Participants are divided into small groups - based on their geography and industry sectors - to take part in periodic online meetings.
Our Anchor Partners
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World Federation of United Nations Associations
Citypreneurs
United Nations Economic and Social Commission
for Asia and the Pacific
The Ventures
Every year, there are more than 2 million occupational exposures to needle-stick injuries globally. 1.7 million people are infected by Hepatitis B by unsafe injections of syringes. MUNE startup from the Republic of Korea solves this problem with their Automatic Needle Destroyer (ANDY) and more.
Find out about Korean startup Tella's impact on youth skills development and job creation. Tella provides English tutoring services through web/app platforms based on 1:1 conversation between English native speaking tutors in English-speaking developing countries and English learners in non-native countries.
Find out how young entrepreneurs and startups from the Republic of Korea contributed to flattening the COVID-19 pandemic curve while keeping their communities safe and informed with their innovations.
Our Impact in Republic of Korea
1000+
187+
42
$1.3 Million
$63000
95+
Teams have applied from 40 + countries since the launch of Youth Co:Lab Korea
Teams from across Asia and the Pacific have received mentoring and impact-profit alignment training
Impact startups were awarded with investment review and R&D opportunities
Mobilized for 18 teams during the 2020-2021 cycle
Granted as award money
Mentors and 1000+ members of the Impact Collective community joined the programme during the 2020-2021 cycle
Research Publication
With rapid technological changes driven by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the labour market is facing a multidimensional paradigm shift. This report analyzes the challenges and opportunities of technological transformation in shaping the labour landscape.
Partnerships and Collaborations
If you are keen to know more about the Youth Co:Lab initiative in Republic of Korea and would like to explore partnerships and collaborations, you can write to us to Ms. Young-Ji Kim (young-ji.kim@undp.org)