Case Study / Investment raising
GITEX Middle East investment raising and MOU support
The situation
There is a lot of talk about Middle East capital being open, but Korean startups have almost no route to actually meet Middle East investors. Response rates to cold email are close to zero, and putting up a booth at a trade show does not bring investors to you.
The venue was GITEX Expand North Star, held at Dubai Harbour from 12 to 15 October 2025. The programme supported ten startups based in Gyeonggi Province at once (AI, healthcare, bio, mobility, energy and others). Each was at a different stage and in a different sector, so the first task was to work out, from an investor's point of view, which company fitted which investor.
What we did
Investor mapping
We built a longlist of angel investors, family offices, VCs and sovereign wealth funds, and matched investors to each of the ten companies.
Localising the IR materials
We rebuilt pitch decks written for the Korean market into the form local investors read. The market definition, the comparables and the regulatory assumptions all changed.
Pitch coaching and meeting setup
We confirmed meetings in advance around the GITEX dates and adjusted each company's pitch to local expectations.
Attending meetings and supporting the agreements
We sat in on the meetings and supported the negotiations through to signing. The real work came after the show ended.
Outcome
Over the GITEX Expand North Star period we ran 220 investment meetings for the ten Gyeonggi Province startups, covering USD 91.57 million (approx. KRW 130 billion) in discussed value. Of these, Alpes (energy and advanced materials) signed a USD 7.1 million investment agreement, and together with two separate partnership agreements a total of three MOUs were concluded.
What this case shows
Hundreds of Korean companies go to Middle East trade shows every year. Most come back with business cards and nothing more. As the narrowing from 220 meetings to 3 MOUs shows, what makes the difference is not the booth. It is deciding in advance who to meet, and following up after the meeting.
We work through the problem with you
Tell us the target country, the product and where you are stuck, and we will come back with the scope worth discussing.
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