Evidence-based insights.
Your partner in building Korea’s startup ecosystem
KEI is a startup-ecosystem research institute that measures, maps, and advances entrepreneurship across Korea’s cities through data-driven research and global collaboration.
Ecosystem intelligence
Systematic measurement of startup ecosystems across Korean cities, using global benchmarks alongside our own instrument.
Global partnership
As StartupBlink’s Korea Branch Partner we place Korean cities inside an international reference set.
Policy research
Comparative studies and roadmaps that turn ecosystem evidence into decisions a city can actually act on.
Measuring, mapping and advancing Korea’s startup ecosystem
KEI studies how entrepreneurial activity actually forms in a place: who starts companies, what capital and talent reach them, which institutions help, and where the chain breaks.
Our aim is to produce ecosystem evidence of a standard that city governments, universities and investors can rely on when the decision is expensive.
Empirical foundations for innovation and policy
Ecosystem Diagnostics
We measure and benchmark startup ecosystems across cities and regions using global standards and rigorous data analysis.
Policy Research
We conduct comparative policy studies that support evidence-based entrepreneurship policy design, evaluation and strategic development.
Global Collaboration Research
Working with international partners, we assess Korea’s startup ecosystem competitiveness on the world stage.
Strategic Roadmapping
We translate research findings into actionable growth strategies and implementation roadmaps for cities and institutions.
The KEI difference
A single subject, studied properly
KEI works on startup ecosystems and nothing else. Every method, dataset and instrument we maintain is built for that one question.
Methods stated in the open
Indicators, weights and data sources are published with each study so a reader can reproduce the result or challenge it.
Senior-led research teams
Studies are led by tenured faculty in entrepreneurship, innovation policy and venture strategy — not delegated to junior staff.
Comparable across borders
Our partnership with StartupBlink and universities abroad places Korean cities inside an international reference set.
Recommendations you can execute
Findings arrive as sequenced actions with an owner and an indicator attached, not as a list of observations.
Continuity between studies
Cities we diagnose are re-measured on the same instrument, so change over time is visible rather than asserted.
Ready to measure your ecosystem?
Commission a city diagnostic, a policy evaluation or a joint international study. Tell us what decision the research has to support and we will tell you what it would take.