Three Growth Drivers: Domestic Market, Infrastructure, and Policy
Korean Startups Rush to Enter India
Tailored Local Strategies Key to Success
India is emerging as a new battleground for startups. The combination of a vast domestic market and the government's active investment in infrastructure is opening up new opportunities. In particular, the Indian government's startup support policies are accelerating the entry of Korean startups into the Indian market.
According to industry sources on October 6, more Korean startups are recently seeking to enter the Indian market. Despite the global economic slowdown, India has maintained robust growth, recording a 7.4% GDP growth rate in the first quarter of this year.
In addition, India's government-led industrial development policies have increased the country's appeal to businesses. In particular, through the 'Startup India' initiative, India is actively encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation by providing regulatory easing, tax benefits, and investment funding for startups. As a result, companies preparing to enter the local market now face the key task of thoroughly analyzing government policies and market trends to develop tailored strategies.
One notable example of success in the local market is the edtech company Turing. In line with India's policy to strengthen STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education, Turing launched its AI-based learning solution 'GPAI.' The company designed an optimized solution based on Indian educational content and textbook data, and offers three core features-AI Solver, Cheat Sheet, and Note Taker-providing all-in-one resources needed for STEM, including step-by-step reasoning.
Turing first distributed its solution to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) to verify its effectiveness and expanded its user base through an ambassador marketing strategy focused on students from prestigious universities with strong influence. The company then broadened its service to an app targeting all user segments, continually setting new records for daily active users (DAU). Turing plans to use India as a bridgehead to expand into the United States, Korea, and Japan.
Balancehero introduced its prepaid mobile recharge service 'True Balance' to the local market, targeting the financially underserved population. The company focused on addressing the blind spots faced by approximately 1 billion middle-class individuals who are excluded from financial services due to a lack of credit scores. In particular, by handling all processes on a mobile-based, non-face-to-face platform and enabling remittance within seconds after a loan application, Balancehero significantly improved accessibility. Currently, the service covers 97% of India and has recorded over 100 million downloads.
In the healthcare sector, the social venture LabSD has made its mark. Targeting the Indian government's goal of reducing blindness rates and addressing the shortage of rural medical infrastructure, LabSD launched the cataract diagnosis app 'CataScan.' The company applied on-device AI technology that operates even on low-spec smartphones to improve accessibility for rural and low-income populations, and has distributed free accounts to local hospitals to help streamline patient management.
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