AI finance corporations Afinit said on the 10th that it is launching the project "Pre-Unicorn India" to support Korean startups' entry into India and, as the first step, will begin the "Korean startup India market research program."
The market research program will be run by the social corporations U.D. Impact. Four selected companies will survey the local market in Delhi, India, for seven days and five nights from Oct. 22 to 27. Startups wishing to participate must submit an "India business concept paper" that includes the business topic they plan to pursue in India, its connection to their existing business, and the hypotheses to be tested locally. Final participants will be selected after video interviews.
The program began from the awareness that, despite high interest in India, few Korean startups actually move on to enter the market. It considered the lack of first-hand information on local consumers and distribution channels and the difficulty of securing touchpoints with local corporations and institutions through short business trips alone. The expense required for local stays and market research is also cited as a barrier to entry.
Afinit planned this project based on its experience of entering the Indian market and operating local business since its 2014 founding. The aim is to share local networks, market information, and lessons learned from trial and error during business operations with Korean startups to support market validation.
Selected corporations will receive support for India stay costs and on-site exploration expense. Participating corporations will visit local corporations arranged to match their fields of interest and industries and conduct individual market research based on the business concept papers submitted in advance.
On the last day of the program, a results-sharing session will be held where each participating corporation will present a business model for entering India. Local startup officials are expected to provide feedback on the presentations and offer advice for business execution.
Lee Cheol-won, CEO of Afinit, said, "India is a market where digital payments and e-commerce are rapidly advancing on the back of a population of 1.4 billion, but Korean startups have not had many opportunities to validate their business hypotheses directly on the ground," and added, "We will share the networks and lessons learned over more than 10 years locally to help Korean startups validate the Indian market more quickly and stably."