Thousands gathered at the Brooklyn Navy Yard from Oct. 16 to Oct. 18 for the KOOM Festival 2025, celebrating the global impact of Korean innovation and creativity.
Over 10,000 people reportedly attended the KOOM Festival 2025: ‘When Dreams Become Reality’ over the weekend, marking the first time such an endeavor involving founders, artists, investors, creators, and cultural enthusiasts gathered under one roof at the Duggal Greenhouse thanks to the nonprofit United Korean Founders.
“KOOM Festival is a startup festival where the founders and artists behind Korea’s leading brands, services, and cultural movements share their stories together. It was built 100% through volunteerism and donations — a dream that came true,” said Saeju Jeong, Founder of KOOM Festival and Co-Chair of the United Korean Founders. “When Koreans gather, we are strong. KOOM proved that our culture can unite and inspire everyone, far beyond Korea itself.”
KOOM means dream in Korean, and it was the pursuit of these dreams that took center stage at this event, where creatives shared both their business concepts and their personal journeys. During the day, over 50 founders and speakers shared their insight on the future of the Korean Wave regarding technology, food, beauty, fashion, and entertainment. Guest speakers included Oh-Hyun Kwon, the former CEO of Samsung Electronics, Junkoo Kim the founder and Global CEO of WEBTOON, Hannah Yang, Chief Growth and Customer Officer of The New York Times, and other notable figures.
Described as more than a festival but a movement to promote the impact of Korean culture on the global stage, the event allowed individuals to network with brand professionals and discover start-ups.
NYU Student Seoyeon Song arrived at the KOOM Festival curious about what it had to offer. She shared that after a few panels and exploring the various booths, she was inspired by the entrepreneurs’ innovative prowess.
“Before I came, I did not know that it was going to be this big of a festival, but I think it’s great. It’s just like a new opportunity for me to get inspired and learn new things,” the 21-year-old economics student stated.
“There are a lot of CEOs from startup groups, and they talked about how they started. So, I thought maybe one day I could start my own business,” Song added. “Overall, I felt like a lot of people are into art, brand food, and I enjoyed watching everyone [interact], and I’ve learned about new brands that I want to try.”
Jujin Jeong helmed a booth with her startup FODI, a dance formation simulation that moves hand-crafted planning from paper to digital screens. The collaborative stage management tool is normally created by hand, but to streamline this, Jeong says that this new app allows a dance team to track all the moving pieces in their production that are synced to their music.
“It’s building a system called FODI, and it is very helpful for dancers. It runs the formation, records the formation, and runs simulations on an app,” Jeong said.
Jeong was one of numerous creatives who shared their products with a new audience and met other professionals working in the K-Pop music and dance industry, which was one of the driving factors presented at KOOM.
Taeho Kim, the COO of HYBE and CEO of BELIFT LAB–known for their star artists ENHYPEN–held a session on “The Next Chapter of K-Culture: Beyond ‘Made in Korea.” Industry professionals, like Kim, stated the key role Koreans play in the industry.
“I think ultimately, our task is to change ‘Made in Korea’ to ‘Made by Korea. That’s why when music and cultural content inspired by and derived from K-pop receive great love from people all over the world…If K-pop’s status was somewhat niche and extremely minor before, BTS served as an excellent textbook that allowed people all over the world to experience what K-pop is and what K-pop culture entails, thus enabling them to understand how K-pop fandom operates,” Kim said.
With the ideas still buzzing in the minds of attendees during the day, the evenings allowed them to let loose and relax with star-studded concerts, including Epik High, CORTIS, Zion.T, SOYOU, Jiselle, Giriboy, tripleS, Sam Kim, and Song So-hee.
An outpouring of support for KOOM 2025 motivated the United Korean Founders to pursue their concept further with another conference, 82 Startup Summit 2026, which will be held in Redwood, California, on January 10, 2026.
