Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) successfully held the '2026 MEGA-US EXPO' and the '2026 UNIV.STAR Global Startup Camp' in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, to support Korean startups' overseas expansion, expand global networks, and strengthen university students' entrepreneurial capabilities.

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Now in its fifth year, the MEGA-US EXPO began in 2022 as a collaboration between JBNU's Startup Support Group and the Saigon Innovation Hub Center in Ho Chi Minh. Since then, it has been hosted by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Science and Technology (HCMC DST) and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, expanding in scale each year. This year it was held under the title 'Vietnam K-Brand Expo' and operated across four categories: K-Beauty, Food, AI Technology, and Lifestyle. 

About 200 startup companies from Korea and Vietnam participated in the event. Thirteen startup-support universities nationwide, three Creative Economy Innovation Centers, and eleven technoparks jointly co-hosted the event. Seven entrepreneurship-focused universities, including JBNU, Kangwon National University, Pusan National University, Sungkyunkwan University, Chonnam National University, Chungbuk National University, and Hannam University, supported the operation of overseas booths for 50 regionally selected export-potential companies. Participating firms used consultations with local buyers to identify export and business collaboration opportunities and to expand local networks for entry into the Vietnamese market.

In particular, JBNU's Startup Support Group supported a total of 27 companies through the entrepreneurship-focused university project: 22 companies within seven years of establishment in the region and five companies selected by the Sports Startup Support Project. As a result, it signed 88 MOUs worth a total of USD 5.64 million and secured one purchase agreement valued at approximately USD 100,000. Additionally, at the 'Venture Star (Korea–Vietnam Startup Global IR Demo Day),' JBNU-supported company MyStarChain Co., Ltd. participated and attracted attention.

During the event, six local trend and technology seminars were held, including a Korea–Vietnam investment bank alliance seminar featuring Shinhan Bank, and seminars on marketing trends for major SNS platforms and trends in beauty consortiums. A visit to Saigon Hi-Tech Park provided an opportunity to explore the potential for mutual exchange and collaboration between Ho Chi Minh's advanced industrial cluster and domestic deep-tech startup technologies.

The 'UNIV.STAR Global Startup Camp,' held concurrently, drew about 161 participants, including 111 students from ten domestic universities including JBNU and 50 students from 27 Vietnamese universities. Twenty Korea–Vietnam joint teams formed and competed in a global startup idea hackathon. Through pre-mentoring, local market research, a visit to Tozhoumok University, a public comprehensive university in Binh Duong Province, Vietnam, and tours of startup support organizations, participants engaged in diverse global startup idea team building.

So Chang-hyun, a student in the Department of Chemical Engineering at JBNU who participated in the event, said, "By taking part in programs run by the Startup Support Group and the Entrepreneurship Education Center, I was able to experience a global startup environment that is hard to encounter domestically and broaden my perspective. Through exchanges not only with Korean students but also with students from Vietnamese universities, my interest in entrepreneurship increased, and I want to become a global entrepreneur."

Guk Gyeong-su, Director of JBNU's Startup Support Group, said, "Through this event, we provided opportunities for regional startups to connect directly with global partners such as local buyers, investors, and startup support organizations. We will continue to expand effective and strategic global expansion support so that regional startups do not remain confined to the domestic market but can grow into the global market."