Press

Every January, we review the business performance of the past year and the status of Underdogs' alumni. Rather than simply looking at numbers, it's a time to reflect on each individual we encountered. Through this, we understand last year's market trends and consider how to lead the business forward. In 2022, the startup ecosystem and market were characterized by negative terms such as 'investment freeze' and 'continued recession.' According to Startup Alliance, in October last year, startups raised 451.4 billion won, in stark contrast to the over 1 trillion won investment influx seen in late 2020 and early 2021. Recently, the startup market that had been heading toward unicorns through 'blitzscaling' has undergone a change. Blitzscaling is a compound of 'blitzkrieg' and 'scale-up,' referring to a growth strategy where companies take risks to expand rapidly and secure overwhelming competitive advantage despite uncertain futures. In the second half of 2022, American venture capital firm Bessemer Venture Partners declared that the unicorn era is over and predicted that 'centaur-type startups' will survive. They analyzed that only companies with stability and sustainable systems that can survive without external help will receive good valuations, moving beyond an era where high growth potential was the main value in company assessment. Recently, domestic VCs are also seeking stable centaurs with slower growth speeds rather than unicorns with steep growth potential. The 'basics' that well-founded companies can survive long-term applies effectively to all companies regardless of size or form. Now is the era where only startups that find PMF (Product Market Fit), prioritize customer validation and product completeness, and grow substantially will survive. It's also a time when Underdogs' alumni must learn and survive even better. For future stability, it's important to internalize entrepreneurial methodology early on and create sustainable systems. To establish ourselves as a company that can survive long-term, we must build a strong foundation from the initial startup phase. Underdogs has focused on establishing entrepreneurs' 'basics' by cultivating over 11,000 entrepreneurs centered on startup methodology. In 2023, we are planning new support projects to achieve goals of 'survival and growth' beyond 'basics.' While entrepreneurship can be done alone, business always requires colleagues. Against this backdrop, Underdogs plans to execute projects that nurture talent who can become colleagues of entrepreneurs, leveraging the know-how in cultivating startup talent accumulated over the past eight years. We will discover people with growth potential among those interested in startups, and through a 12-week educational program, develop 'startup-fit talent' with entrepreneurial perspectives, competencies, and practical job understanding at the level of leading operations. By connecting such talent to founding teams, we aim to achieve Underdogs' mission of 'changing the world through entrepreneurs.' Additionally, through forming an investment consortium with affiliate 'New Kids Investment,' we will work to build an investment ecosystem for corporate small and medium-sized businesses and early-stage startups. The newly organized investment consortium will become an LP-linked consortium connecting fund investments to corporate small and medium-sized businesses, local creator enterprises, virtuous cycle-building companies, and alumni. We want to focus on delivering measurable results while carefully ensuring that important basics are not overlooked. We hope that until the day 'underdogs' become 'centaurs,' startup fundamentals are maintained and beloved companies that last a long time are created.