(Interview) "Overseas expansion, not a choice but survival... Sales partner running together with startups"

[News Tomato Reporter Seung-Joo Oh] "There are limits to the growth of startups in the domestic market alone. Venture capitals (VCs) also require overseas expansion strategies from pre-A or A rounds, and it is difficult to receive follow-up investment without a plan for this. Ultimately, in order for startups to advance to the next stage, they need to go through overseas proof of concept (PoC) and secure actual sales."

This is what Wonchae Yi, CEO of Podium & Company, an accelerator (AC) that supports startups’ overseas expansion, said. He recently met with us at his office in Seongsu-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, and said, “Many startup CEOs recognize the need to expand overseas, but they have difficulty knowing where to start.” He added, “I want to use my overseas sales experience and network from working at large companies to grow together with startups.”

This representative joined Daewoo Group in 1994 and has been in charge of overseas sales in various fields such as heavy equipment, automobiles, and aircraft for about 29 years. In particular, he has gained market development experience in various regions such as Malaysia, Argentina, and Algeria. Just before retirement, he led the startup new industry promotion team at POSCO International and played a role in grafting startup innovation onto the business models of large corporations.

After retirement, CEO Lee came up with the idea of connecting the overseas business network and know-how he had accumulated with startups. He said, "It has become difficult for domestic startups to maintain competitiveness in the domestic market alone. However, most startups lack overseas sales experience, so I decided to help in this area."

Then, "There were many people who shared the same goal. Daewoo International (now "Podium & Company was founded by executives from Daewoo Group, including the CEO of POSCO International (047050 ), the Vice President of Daewoo Electronics, and experts from various fields, including AI, defense, and F&B," he said, adding, "It is scheduled to be officially launched on the 21st."

While AC and VC mainly provide investment attraction, management consulting, and networking support, Podium & Company is differentiated in that it jumps directly into ‘sales.’ The CEO said, “We are responsible for all processes related to sales generation, from overseas PoC to follow-up investment attraction, training of startups’ overseas sales teams, and even collaboration with large domestic companies,” and emphasized, “Our strength is that we do not stop at simple advice or networking, but play the role of a ‘playing coach’ in the actual field.”

The representative introduced the building water quality improvement startup 'Geogrid' as a success story. He explained, "First, we conduct market research and establish strategies to determine which country to target and how to secure competitiveness," and "After setting the Indonesian market as a target among Southeast Asia, which has serious water quality problems, the key was to produce sales results locally."

He also said, "We will work together with you from connecting with local partners, government agencies, and companies to contract negotiations and aftercare," and "As successful PoC cases accumulate, we will secure a strong reference that can appeal to domestic and foreign investors, and through this, we will support corporate briefings (IR) and investment networking to help attract follow-up investment. We support the entire process from A to Z for startups to expand overseas."

In fact, Geogrid, which has been working with CEO Yi since May of last year, exported its smart water purification system to Indonesia for the first time in November of the same year. Based on this, it attracted investment from MYSC in December of last year and 500 Global in February of this year, and was selected for Samsung Electronics' startup incubation program 'C-Lab Outside' in the same month.

The representative said, "Startups often find it difficult to even attempt overseas sales due to cost, time, and manpower issues. However, we can solve this problem through our overseas sales know-how." He added, "We are a great help to startups because we solve the most difficult parts, and we also receive incentives and stock options based on performance as we cooperate."

The representative said, "Many startup CEOs excel at R&D and product development, but if they try to handle overseas sales, marketing, and investment attraction all on their own, the costs and trial and error increase." He advised, "It is important for startup CEOs to focus on what they are good at and get help from professional partners for areas where they are lacking." He continued, "Sales in particular is the area where small and medium-sized startups are most lacking, but it is also a key element in growing a company." He added, "If experts with experience and networks play a role in opening the door, startups can significantly shorten the process of expanding overseas."

Podium & Company aims to become a ‘new type of general trading company’ for startups in the long term by expanding its VC functions, such as raising funds and making direct investments. CEO Yi stated his aspirations, saying, “Under the slogan ‘The world is wide and there is much to do’ during my time at Daewoo, I will utilize the experience and network I gained while traveling around the world to work with startups and produce tangible results.”

Reporter Seung-Joo Oh sj.oh@etomato.com