Startup builder Team Europe opens office in South Korea as launchpad for Asia

Berlin-based Internet startup incubator Team Europe is expanding to Asia with the establishment of a “market-watch” office in Seoul, South Korea.

It will be headed by German-Korean Ludolf Ebner-Chung, a former McKinsey consultant, with Team Europe partner Markus Fuhrmann overseeing the venture.

The idea is for Team Europe to use the new office as a launchpad to expand its activities across multiple Asian regions. So why Korea first?

Furhmann asserts that Korea has a huge Internet and smartphone environment, and that there are big opportunities for Team Europe to build successful Internet companies in the region. “It feels like Berlin a few years ago,” he says.

Fuhrmann already started several companies in China before joining Lukasz Gadowski, Kolja Hebenstreit and Steffen Höllinger at Team Europe as a partner in 2009. The firm’s portfolio includes companies like Delivery Hero, HitFox, Mister Spex and Madvertise.

Question is: do they need to change their name now?