Speaking slots assigned in the Sept. 29 fireside session “The Reno Bridge”… K-Nevada Gateway 2026 takes additional applications
Reno Startup Week 2026 runs Sept. 28 to Oct. 2, presented by the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development. Photo: Reno Startup Week
Korean companies will speak on the official program of Reno Startup Week in Reno, Nevada. The fireside session runs from 10:00 to 10:50 a.m. on Sept. 29. It is titled “The Reno Bridge: What it takes for an international startup to break into the US,” and takes place at the auditorium at Kiln.
The organizers scheduled the session around K-Nevada Gateway 2026, held in Reno the same week. K-EnterTech Hub (케이엔터테크허브) says it is the first time Reno Startup Week has assigned an official session to a single country’s delegation. Speakers will be selected from among the K-Nevada Gateway participating company executives.
Reno Startup Week 2026 runs Sept. 28 to Oct. 2. It is organized by Northern NV Now and supported by the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED).
The main venue is The Paloma, and registration is free. The first edition in 2023 drew about 550 registrations. K-Nevada Gateway 2026 runs Sept. 28 to Oct. 1, entirely inside that week, and participating teams enter Reno Startup Week sessions free of charge as affiliates. On Sept. 30 they attend the Startup World Cup Reno regional, whose grand finale carries a $1 million investment prize.
Positron AI’s $230 million Series B… the manufacturing and AI investment stacking up in Reno
Tesla operates a 1.7 million-square-foot Semi truck plant at the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center east of Reno. Panasonic Energy makes battery cells in the same corridor. Amperesand, which manufactures solid-state transformers, put more than $18 million into equipment at its south Reno site and hired more than 60 people at an average wage of $55.50 an hour. Positron AI, an AI chip company founded in 2023, raised a $230 million Series B in February at a post-money valuation above $1 billion. The figures were reported by Northern Nevada Business Weekly on March 31.
The research and workforce base moved with it. The U.S. Economic Development Administration designated the Carson City–Reno region a tech hub for lithium batteries and electric vehicle materials in October 2023, and awarded the Nevada Tech Hub $21 million in July 2024. The hub, led by UNR, distributed $15.5 million across 17 projects in October 2025, including to Nevadaworks, Great Basin College, TMCC and Western Nevada College.
Unlike Las Vegas, Reno rests on manufacturing, energy and materials, and sits a four-hour drive from San Francisco. K-EnterTech Hub says it aimed K-Nevada Gateway at companies that want a West Coast entry point while the cost of taking one is still low.
Hyundai Engineering and KIND signed a Nevada lithium-boron MOU in July… startups still have few routes
Korean entry into Nevada began with the large corporates. The Korea Overseas Infrastructure & Urban Development Corporation (KIND) and Hyundai Engineering (현대엔지니어링) signed a memorandum of understanding in Washington on July 8 to join ioneer’s lithium-boron project in Nevada, entering a U.S. construction-led project with Korean policy financing behind them. KIND president Kim Bok-hwan said the financing would secure the project’s stability, and Hyundai Engineering’s Lee Seung-dong framed it as a chance to promote the company’s technology in the North American market. The signing was reported by Seoul Economic Daily on July 8.
The state has moved as well. The Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development sent a mission to Japan and South Korea in November 2025 and signed a memorandum of understanding with Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (문화방송) on K-content production and event hosting. Others met on that mission included the Gwangju Metropolitan Government (광주광역시), PEN Ventures, LG Science Park, the Innopolis Foundation, the Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) and K-EnterTech Hub.
Entries at startup scale are fewer. A slot to present directly to local investors and economic development agencies exists only where a program creates one. K-EnterTech Hub points to the Reno Startup Week speaking slot and the K-Startup Showcase pitch as that route. Both are open only to teams in this edition.
The four days of K-Nevada Gateway 2026 within Reno Startup Week. Source: K-EnterTech Hub
Startup World Cup Reno regional on Sept. 30… $1 million prize at the grand finale
The Startup World Cup Reno regional takes place the same week, on Sept. 30 at Aha Projects. It is run by Pegasus Tech Ventures. Teams advancing from regional rounds in more than 70 cities compete in the San Francisco grand finale, where the winner receives a $1 million investment prize. The judges are Kyle Ferguson, Chief Program Officer at Battle Born Venture Capital; Leah Hendricks, Senior Vice President at Advantage Capital; and Colin Delea, General Partner and CFO at Flume Ventures. K-Nevada Gateway teams attend the regional round.
Showcase at UNR’s Center for Global Engagement… six-minute pitches followed by Q&A
The program runs four days. On the afternoon of Sept. 28, the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) Center for Global Engagement and the Ozmen Center for Entrepreneurship introduce their programs, followed by company introductions from each participating executive.
The K-Startup Showcase follows the fireside session on Sept. 29. Each team pitches for six minutes, followed by Q&A. GOED, Northern NV Now, the Nevada Center for Applied Research (NCAR) and local investors are invited, and the showcase is also open to students of the UNR College of Business. A separate education session is scheduled the same day.
Sept. 30 is given to venture capital and partner meetings, held as 30-minute one-on-ones with StartUpNV, FundNV and AngelNV. Korea Night 2026 follows that evening at Reno Public Market, from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m. The girl group KANDIS (캔디스) opens the stage. Tables introducing the participating companies are set up at the venue, and attendees receive coupons redeemable at the food vendors inside Reno Public Market. Korea Night is prepared jointly with the Korean Association of Reno.
Site visits follow on Oct. 1. Nine destinations are prepared — Tesla Gigafactory, Panasonic Energy, Dragonfly Energy, Renown Health, Nevada Autonomous, the Desert Research Institute (DRI), Switch, UNR’s Virtual and Augmented Reality Institute (VARI) and NCAR — with tracks assigned by each company’s field.
$7,500 fee, 10 team capacity… remaining seats open
Participation costs $7,500, covering the three-night, four-day program in full, with airfare separate. Capacity is 10 teams. The six target sectors are energy and battery, semiconductors and AI, medical and health tech, AI, content and media, drones and mobility, and agtech and cleantech. The first application deadline was Sept. 12, and the organizers are taking additional applications for the remaining seats. Companies that want a speaking slot in the official Reno Startup Week session should indicate this on their application.
The program is co-organized by K-EnterTech Hub, The Way Company (더웨이컴퍼니) and Pacemakers (페이스메이커스). The core partner institution is the UNR Center for Global Engagement, with GOED, Northern NV Now and NCAR participating as partners.
In 2025, four teams took part — MAZE, LEDON, KimCaddie and SPASS. MAZE established a Reno entity and began local proof-of-concept work, and LEDON started joint smart farm research with UNR’s agriculture faculty. The Nevada chapter of the Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association (KSEA) was founded at last year’s Korea Night.
After the program, follow-up support continues through K-Nevada Bridge and connects to the January 2027 program during CES week in Las Vegas. Applications and inquiries: knevada.com, existen75@kentertechhub.com.
Sources
– K-Nevada Gateway 2026 official site, knevada.com (accessed Sept. 13, 2026)
– Reno Startup Week 2026 official site and registration page, renostartupweek.com (accessed Sept. 13, 2026)
– Startup World Cup, “USA Reno Nevada 2026,” startupworldcup.io (accessed Sept. 13, 2026)
– Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development, “Reno Startup Week” event page, goed.nv.gov
– Fireside session scheduling and program details from the September 2026 operational correspondence sent to K-EnterTech Hub by the UNR Center for Global Engagement
– Northern Nevada Business Weekly, “Technology companies continue to invest, expand into region,” March 31, 2026 (Amperesand, Positron AI, Tesla Semi plant figures)
– U.S. Economic Development Administration, “Nevada Tech Hub” program page and July 2, 2024 press release ($21 million award)
– University of Nevada, Reno, “Nevada Tech Hub awards more than $15.5 million,” October 2025 (17-project distribution)
– Seoul Economic Daily (서울경제), “Korea Firms Join US Nevada Lithium-Boron Plant Under MOU,” July 8, 2026 (KIND and Hyundai Engineering)
– Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development, “Expanding International Collaboration: Nevada’s Mission to Japan and South Korea,” November 2025 (MBC memorandum and list of counterparts)
Links
– K-Nevada Gateway 2026 — program and application https://knevada.com
– Reno Startup Week 2026 — free registration https://www.renostartupweek.com
– Startup World Cup, Reno regional https://www.startupworldcup.io/usa-reno-nevada-2026
– K-EnterTech Hub https://kentertechhub.com
– Inquiries existen75@kentertechhub.com