Startup, Patent and Trademark Applications Increase Funding by Up to 17.1 Times

[Financial News] If a startup precedes patent and trademark application activities, the possibility of funding increases by up to 17.1 times, and the exit possibility increases by more than double.
 Exit refers to investors in startups recovering their investments and making profits, which is known as 'investment recovery' from the investor's perspective and 'exit strategy' from the entrepreneur's perspective. Exits usually occur through initial public offerings (IPO) or mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
 The National Intellectual Property Committee and the Korean Intellectual Property Office commissioned the Korea Institute of Intellectual Property and the Korea Development Institute (KDI) to conduct the 'Research on the Importance of Startup Funding and Patents and Trademarks', which was analyzed as such on the 21st.
 This study analyzed the investment information and patent and trademark application data of 2,615 startups from 1999 to 2025, empirically analyzing the impact of intellectual property activities on startup funding and exit possibilities.
 The research results showed that if a startup precedes patent and trademark application activities, the possibility of funding is at least 1.7 times higher than if they do not.
 The possibility of startup funding increased by 1.7 times at the seed stage, 3.1 times at the early stage, and up to 6.3 times at the late stage, gradually increasing towards the late stage.
 If a startup expands its patent and trademark application activities from domestic to overseas at the late stage, the possibility of funding increased to 7.1 times.
 The type of intellectual property that a startup aims to secure also affects funding. If a startup precedes both patent and trademark application activities at the late stage, the possibility of funding increased by up to 9 times.
 Additionally, the scale of patent and trademark applications by startups was found to have the greatest impact on funding. If a startup applies for more than 20 patents and trademarks at the late stage, the possibility of funding increased by as much as 17.1 times.
 If a startup precedes patent and trademark application activities, the possibility of recovering investment, or exit, also increased by more than double. Furthermore, if a startup applies for more than 20 domestic and international patents and trademarks, the exit possibility increased by up to 5.9 times.
 Kwang-Hyung Lee, the private chairman of the National Intellectual Property Committee, emphasized, “As it has been proven that intellectual property is important for startups in Korea, like in the US and Europe, the government should support startups not only with funds but also with intellectual property strategies.”
 Wan-Ki Kim, the Commissioner of the Korean Intellectual Property Office, said, “This research result shows that the intellectual property information of domestic startups acts as an important indicator for external investors to evaluate the growth potential and value of a company,” and added, “We will expand practical support so that startups can be recognized for the value of innovation through intellectual property rights and create a virtuous cycle of growth such as attracting investment.”

kwj5797@fnnews.com Won-Jun Kim Reporter