About KOOM Stage

Session Proposals & Community Voting: August 19 - September 27, 2026

Lineup Finalized: September 28 - 30, 2026

Timetable Announced: October 1, 2026

KOOM Stage is the daytime conference of KOOM Week 2026: a community-driven program built by founders, builders, and creators from the Korea and Korean-American startup scene, taking place at Terminal 5 in New York City on Friday, October 16, 2026.

We run on a simple belief: the best sessions come from the community itself. Instead of a lineup decided behind closed doors, KOOM Stage is programmed through an open, two-step process on stage.koom.nyc.

Step 1: Propose: Anyone can propose a session built on their own experience: lessons from building a startup, working with AI, branding and growth, raising capital, expanding to the US, growing people and teams. You can also propose topics or nominate the speakers you want to hear from.

Step 2: Community Voting: Browse the proposals, upvote the sessions you want to see, and help shape the program. Every vote tells us what the community actually wants on stage.

Selected sessions take the stage across 6 breakout rooms for one full day of talks, panels, and conversations. Reading the FAQ will give you valuable tips for creating a great proposal.

KOOM comes from the Korean word for dream, 꿈 (kkum).

KOOM Week is produced by United Korean Founders (UKF), a community connecting Korean and Korean-American founders & professionals across Seoul, San Francisco and New York. The exchange starts within the Korean community across generations and geographies, and reaches beyond it: UKF's mission is to bridge Korea and the world.

KOOM Stage 2025 was a beautiful show, but the stage belonged to big-name speakers. Meanwhile New York, the city of dreams, is full of people with hard-won experience and dreamers chasing their own New York story. How do we get them all sharing and connecting?

At a team workshop, that question kept us up until 4 a.m. Then Paul shared LETS (Local Exchange Trading System), a methodology designed by Changjun Kim, and everyone laughed: "That's it!" Starting in 2026, KOOM Stage runs on this format: you propose, the community votes, and we build the program together.

Learn more about UKF at ukf.net/en/about

During the open entry period (August 19 - September 27, 2026), anyone can submit a session proposal on stage.koom.nyc. The form takes about 3 minutes and walks you step by step: who you are, what story you want to share, and which track it fits.

A few ground rules:

• Up to 3 proposals per person
• Sessions can be in English, Korean, or bilingual
• 6 tracks: AI & Technology, Consumer & Brand, Fundraising & VC, Founder Stories, US Market & Global Expansion, and Career & Leadership

If your story could inspire someone, that's enough. Propose it.

How sessions are selected: Community Voting + Curation Team

Community votes matter: they tell us how enthusiastic the audience is about a topic or speaker. But vote totals are not the only factor in deciding the program. The KOOM Stage curation team reviews every proposal alongside the votes, which keeps the program balanced and gives lesser-known voices as much of a chance to take the stage as people with large followings.

Community Voting: Who knows what you want to see at KOOM Stage better than you? Browse the proposals, upvote what excites you, and shape the look and feel of the event.

Curation Team: The KOOM Stage team reviews every proposal for clarity, fit, and balance across tracks, making sure new voices get a real shot alongside experienced speakers.

Selected speakers are notified by email, and the final lineup is announced on stage.koom.nyc. Speakers are announced on the speaker page as they are confirmed, and the full timetable goes public on October 1, 2026.