[Survey] Insights on Korean Startups Seeking US Investment

Published Date : May 16, 2024

We've recently seen organic increase in usage from startups outside the United States. This trend makes sense, since even seasoned entrepreneurs can find US business norms and market expectations confusing without the right information and knowledge. So naturally, we conducted a data analysis and survey over the past couple of weeks with companies in Korea. Here are the results.

Disclaimer : results are based on Jigo AI collected contracts and survey. The sample size is small (100+companies), so the results are more for fun then statistically meaningful.

TLDR;

For Korean startups that had shown interest in receiving funding from US investors....

• Incorporation in the US: 17.5% have taken the significant step of incorporating an entity in the United States, highlighting their commitment to attracting US investment.
• Communication Confidence: 91.3% of these startups are confident they will not face communication issues with US investors.
• Communication Challenges: Conversely, 30% of the startups are expected to encounter communication difficulties with US investors.
• Structural Issues: Almost 40% of the startups have some structural issue that could make them less appealing to US investors.

Incorporation in the US
Our survey shows 17.5% of the startups in Korea who have shown interest raising investments from US investors have taken the step of incorporating an entity in the US. Based on rough survey of Korean VCs, roughly 2-5% of startups in Korea who have received funding have a US entity.

Communication confidence / Challenges
When asked of their self assessed ability to communicate with US investors, 91.3% said, they feel they will be able to communicate sufficiently. However, when subjected to a series of questions designed to evaluate their communication skills, only 71% passed with flying colors, indicating some room for improvement. Some 20% of the companies are in for a rude awakening.

Structural Issues
Nearly 40% of the surveyed startups have at least one structural setups or methods that are considered norms in Korea but may appear unusual or concerning to US investors. These differences could potentially hinder their appeal to the US market, and will require re-structuring prior.

Of the Korean startups surveyed, only 1% achieved a perfect score. This means that only 1 out of 100 Korean startups are viewed on equal footing with US startups by US investors, apart from business metrics.

If you'd like to chat on this subject or would like me to take a deeper dive in your company, feel free to schedule time on my calendar. You can schedule a zoom call with me through this <link>