We’ve just delivered 40 business matching meetings in Seoul for the Korea Office of Enterprise Estonia – as part of a successful trade mission to help Estonian energy companies unlock export opportunities and build commercial partnerships in South Korea.
Led by Estonia’s Minister of Energy & Environment, Andres Sutt, the delegation included six innovative Estonian companies – Eesti Energia, Skeleton Technologies, Kanepi Energia, OÜ Newin, Materia Sorter and UP Catalyst – each offering technologies relevant to Korea’s rapidly evolving energy landscape.
As preparation for the mission, our Seoul team provided an in-depth briefing for the Estonian companies, including an overview of Korea’s energy market and advice on Korean business culture and practices. We followed up with briefing calls with each participating company. Armed with a clear understanding of their technologies and commercial goals, we then started targeted outreach to our network of contacts in Korea.
Business matching meetings in progress
In just over a week, our team in Seoul secured and then hosted 40 high-quality meetings with prospective customers, distributors and partners for the Estonian companies. These included high-profile Korean corporations Hanjin Group, NEO Battery Materials, Lotte Chemical, Hyundai Rotem, Samsung SDI and SK Innovation.
While Korea and Estonia differ in scale, both face similar challenges around grid stability, energy security and the transition to cleaner, more efficient power systems.
Korea is one of the world’s most advanced energy markets, particularly in the commercialisation of hydrogen, fuel cell and battery technologies. Rapid data centre growth in the country, however, is placing increasing pressure on its power infrastructure – driving heightened demand for a stable electricity supply, smart grid optimisation and diversified energy generation sources, including nuclear power.
For the Estonian companies on the mission, Korea’s growing energy consumption is a significant opportunity. They demonstrated a range of advanced technologies that address the nation's emerging needs, especially around grid optimisation and efficiency. And they showed a level of understanding and responsiveness to the Korean companies’ priorities that aligned well with Korea’s fast-paced ‘ppali-ppali’ (‘quickly, quickly’) business culture.
The meetings have already generated a strong pipeline of opportunities for the Estonian companies.
A spokesperson for Enterprise Estonia’s Korea Office said: “The Intralink team significantly exceeded our expectations, delivering 40 highly targeted meetings in under two weeks. Their professionalism, market insight and hands-on support ensured each meeting translated into genuine, high-value business dialogue between our companies and the Korean corporations.
“The meetings have generated positive momentum with further opportunities expected to develop over the coming months.”
Andrus Durejko, CEO at mission participant Eesti Energia, said: "With a focus on nuclear power, Korea stands out as a highly promising partner for us. While the market is complex to navigate, participating in Enterprise Estonia’s trade mission was invaluable, providing deep insights into local business practices and culture. The Korean companies Intralink matched us with were all interested in what we could offer them and we’re already in discussions about potential next steps with several.”
If you’d like to discuss the prospects for your energy tech business in Korea, please contact Dilshod Akbarov at dilshod.akbarov@intralinkgroup.com
