Agawa at EdTech Korea Fair 2025
Invited to Seoul as one of Canada's representative buyers, we spent a week inside Korea's EdTech industry. We came back with partners, a signed MOU, and a clear read on where Korean innovation meets Canadian opportunity.
Introduction
In September 2025, KOTRA invited us to Seoul as one of Canada's representative buyers for the EdTech Korea Fair at COEX. For a week, we sat across from some of the most ambitious education companies in Asia, listening to what they'd built and asking the question that matters most to us: would this work in Canada? By the end, we had answers, and a few new partners.
Content
Korea builds education technology at a pace that's hard to appreciate until you're standing in the middle of it. Walking the floor at COEX, the depth was obvious. AI tutoring systems that adapt in real time. Language platforms built on years of pedagogical research. Classroom tools that solve problems Canadian schools are only beginning to name out loud. The technology wasn't the question. The talent and the ideas were already there. The real question was the bridge. A brilliant product built for the Korean market doesn't automatically translate to Ontario classrooms, Canadian procurement rules, or the way North American educators actually make decisions. That gap between a great product and a successful market entry is precisely the work we do, and it's why KOTRA brought a Canadian buyer into the room in the first place. So we did more than browse. We had real conversations about what entering Canada would actually take. By the end of the fair, we'd signed one MOU and begun go-to-market consulting with three teams serious about crossing into the North American market. Each of them had something genuine to offer. What they needed was a partner who understood the terrain on the other side. That's the pattern we keep coming back to. The most interesting companies we meet aren't looking for someone to tell them their product is good. They already know it is. They're looking for someone who can tell them the truth about a new market, and then help them win in it. EdTech Korea Fair confirmed something we already believed. The ideas coming out of Korea and the wider Asia-Pacific region are world-class. The opportunity in Canada is real and largely untapped. The thing standing between the two is execution, and that's the part we're built for.
Let's Work together
"Agawa understood our product, but more importantly, they understood Canada. They gave us an honest read on the market and a real plan to enter it, not just encouragement."
Founder - Edtech Startup, Korea
If you've built something great and you're looking at the North American market, the product was never the hard part. Let's talk about the part that is.