Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship (벤처창업연구)

The Korean Society of Business Venturing (한국벤처창업학회)
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Investment Process of Start-up: A Case Study of LetinAR

스타트업의 초기 투자유치 프로세스: (주)레티널 사례를 바탕으로

  • KIM, HA YOUNG (Hanyang University Business School Undergraduate) ;
  • BAE, TAE JUN (Department of Entrepreneurship graduate school, Hanyang University) ;
  • WON, CHI WOON (Business School, Hanyang University)
  • Received : 2019.11.11
  • Accepted : 2019.12.25
  • Published : 2019.12.31
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Abstract

Although a well-established line of research has addressed the funding decision, the activities of investee startups to receive funding have been overlooked because prior research has been conduced from investor's point of view. In addition, funding does not result from one off decisions but from decision process with many stages. Moreover, the emphasis placed on specific investment criteria varies by different stages during the process. Therefore, understanding the initial funding of startups requires to analyze the strategic behaviors of startups throughout the entire funding decision process from first meeting with investors to funding success. This study investigates the initial funding process of startups, and the analysis is based on a case study of LetinAR one of the successful startups founded by students in South Korea. This study investigates how early start-ups were able to receive funding from startup's point of view, and the analysis is based on a case study of LetinAR, an augmented reality(AR) startup using Pin mirror technology. By adding "legitimacy building" stage that had not been addressed previously, we divided funding process into four stages: 1) legitimacy building, 2) familiarization, 3) screening, and 4) bargaining phase. We did not only analyze major criteria, but also strategic activities of startup at each stage. This study makes a contribution by helping us understand complicated process of funding and the successful strategic behavior of investor backed startups.

타트업의 투자 의사결정에 대한 연구들은 활발하게 이루어져 왔다. 하지만, 주로 투자자의 관점에서 연구가 되었기 때문에 피투자 기업의 전략적인 활동은 간과되어왔다. 특히, 스타트업 투자는 일시적으로 한 순간의 결정으로 이루어지는 것이 아닌, 투자 유치 진행과정을 통해 결정된다. 뿐만 아니라, 단계별로 의사결정의 핵심 요소가 달라질 수 있으므로, 스타트업의 초기 투자 유치를 이해하기 위해서는 투자자 만남에서 투자 유치 성공에 이르기까지 전 과정에 걸쳐, 스타트업 기업의 전략적 행동을 분석할 필요가 있다. 이를 위해 핀미러 기술을 활용한 증강현실 (Augumented Reality, AR) 스타트업인 (주)레티널의 사례를 통해 "어떻게" 초기 스타트업이 투자 유치에 성공할 수 있었는지, 피투자자인 스타트업 관점에서 연구하였다. 구체적으로, 본 연구에서는 스타트업이 투자를 받기 전 존재 자체를 알리기 위한 정당성 확보하는 단계를 추가시켜 기존 투자 프로세스 모델을 확장하였다. 이를 바탕으로 1) 정당성 확보, 2) 친화, 3) 검토, 4) 협상 단계 등 4단계로 투자 진행 프로세스를 나누었고, 각 단계별 주요 요인을 분석하고, 스타트업의 전략적 활동을 파악했다. 본 연구는 스타트업의 투자 유치와 관련된 복잡한 과정과 피투자자인 스타트업 기업의 성공적인 전략적 행동들을 이해하는데 많은 도움이 될 수 있을 것으로 판단된다.

Keywords

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