[Reporter Jeong Seon-eun] "It is not easy to invest in the Korean market alone. Fin2B's investment requires a global approach." "Korea's GDP is 10 times smaller than that of the U.S. and China, and it is difficult to create an investment scale due to the wide gap in population," said Park Sang-soon, CEO of Fin2B, who gave a panel lecture on "Fair and Poor's Investment." "In the end, we need to increase the value of our investment by increasing the value of our company, but we need support because it is not easy to consider overseas expansion from our perspective." Park Sang-soon's lecture on the day can be summed up in three key messages. The first is to recognize the limitations of the domestic fintech market, and the second is to support domestic fintech startups to build a foundation for commercialization before making material investments. Finally, it is summed up as consideration of investment in overseas fintech operators.

According to data from Accenture, a global consulting firm, fintech investment is surging worldwide. The amount of global fintech investment, which was worth 2 trillion won in 2010 in won, increased to 25 trillion won in 2015. In particular, it is evaluated that the growth of traditional powerhouses such as the U.S. and Europe, as well as the increase in fintech investment in Asia, has been remarkable. Korea has also seen a significant increase in investment in fintech companies over the past three years. According to ROA Consulting, a consulting firm specializing in information and communication, domestic fintech investment, which was 8.4 billion won in 2014, surged to 38.5 billion won last year and exceeded 48.6 billion won this year in four months. However, it is pointed out that it is regrettable in terms of the size of fintech investment compared to the share of the Korean economy. "If we estimate the share of the Korean economy in the global economy at 2%, the amount of fintech investment should be about 500 billion won, which is similar to the global level," CEO Park Sang-soon said. "As of last year, the figure of 38.5 billion won is less than a tenth of that, and fintech investment is rapidly increasing, but the proportion of investment is small." The importance of market size to expand fintech investment was particularly emphasized. CEO Park Sang-soon explained that venture capital firms that invest in startups usually have a small stake in a company with potential growth potential and expect to earn about 10 times more after four to seven years of horizontal investment. Although the risk is high since it is an initial investment, it can make up for the rest of the failure if about 10 percent of the total portfolio hits the home run. For example, if you invest 10 billion won and own 25 percent of the shares, you have to earn 100 billion won to investors within four to seven years. In other words, it is possible to generate 40 billion won in annual profits only when the enterprise value is at least 400 billion won. "The size of the market is more important than anything else if we fail to meet the ROI," CEO Park Sang-soon said. "The size of the market is more important than anything else." There are limitations of Korean fintech startups as well. They face difficulties not only in terms of financial power but also in the process of commercialization, where they have to pay attention to customer acquisition and regulatory inspection. "If you ask a company that only has fintech to come up with a strategy, it's more like navel than navel," CEO Park Sang-soon said. "It can only be solved if banks take an approach that considers how to integrate with what banks have in the past with the attitude of doing it together." The company also mentioned the trend of shifting from a global platform to an ecosystem. Critics point out that since it is difficult for fintech startups to create ecosystems themselves, they need the help of platform operators. "If you look at Alipay in China, they support startups with their customer base, infrastructure, information, and enormous financial power," CEO Park Sang-soon said. "A startup that works like Alipay is not just a startup but a startup that is like starting with a powerful weapon." "When we use the accelerator, which is an opportunity for strategic investment and fostering startups, we will be able to increase our profits by increasing the market," CEO Park Sang-soon said. "As global joint investment is increasing, we also need to know and monitor the overseas fintech operators that are growing."

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