One building that makes itself known before you’re ready for it is the Dongdaemun Design Plaza. The curved aluminum exterior designed by Zaha Hadid rises from the middle of Seoul like something that doesn’t quite fit in, which is probably on purpose. That building will be the main stage for Try Everything, South Korea’s biggest startup event, on September 9 and 10, 2026. Malaysian green tech founders will be among the founders navigating the pitch sessions and investor lines inside.
Malaysian startups will be at Try Everything 2026 and the related ASEAN-Korea Startup Week. This isn’t just a bunch of companies looking for money, though. Malaysia has been building a strong green tech industry, including solar energy, waste management technology, sustainable agriculture, and water treatment. This is partly because of incentives from the government and partly because founders saw a market signal early and acted on it. Now, those founders need a lot of money, which the Malaysian market doesn’t always have, and they need to be able to start business partnerships that need international credibility. As a place for startups, Seoul has both.
Venture capitalists come from all over East Asia and beyond to Try Everything. The event is set up so that founders can talk directly to these investors during investor relations sessions, which are like pitch rounds but move faster and more concretely than most networking events. The Seoul Unicorn Challenge is part of this environment and has a total prize of 120 million won, which is about $88,000. It also has “soft-landing” packages for winners that are meant to help them set up a business in South Korea. The prize money alone wouldn’t help an early-stage green tech company as much as the cash and help getting into new markets.
For Malaysian founders working on B2B green technology, the corporate matchmaking part is where things really get interesting. The ASEAN-Korea Startup Week and other events often work with big Korean companies, like Naver Cloud and LG, to connect new technologies with business needs. There aren’t many traditional ways for a Malaysian company with a good idea for recycling industrial water or managing building energy to get in touch with LG’s procurement or innovation teams. Structured matchmaking at a big Seoul startup event is a different kind of door that often leads to more business than cold outreach.
South Korea isn’t just interested in Southeast Asian green tech for charity’s sake. Korean conglomerates do business all over the region in areas like manufacturing, building, and logistics. They need long-lasting technology solutions that can work in tropical climates, in cities with lots of people, and with the rules set by different national governments. Malaysian startups that are building in that area have experience with products that meet the needs of Korean businesses. There is a real match between hobbies, which is what makes the matchmaking more than just a ritual.
