Thai startups and government support

         Startups are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that engage in three business groups: manufacturing, trading and services. Technology is an important part of the business operation of startups.

         At present, startups are another important engine in driving Thailand’s new economic structure in the future. The government therefore places great importance on them and is ready to formulate policies to promote and support startup growth.

The Department of Industrial Promotion is one of the key agencies in promoting and developing startups. The characteristics of startups are as follows:

1)  Use deep technology and innovation that is based on study, research and development and is difficult to imitate;

2) Use the new business models that can solve problems and respond to market needs, and have a clear and sufficient customer group to reproduce and expand the business in a leap;

3)  Have the goal of expanding and growing the business, ready for investments or joint ventures from investors or funds.

In addition, it focuses on networking, which is the Department’s strength, in creating the ecosystem to facilitate the promotion and support the growth and success of startups. The creation of ecosystem for startups can be achieved through these four approaches:

1. Expansion of the startup network by identifying potential entrepreneurs from educational institutions and research institutions within the network and prepare them for their presentation of business models to investors;

2.  Expansion of capital networks by creating a network with private companies interested in co-investing with startup entrepreneurs that have been incubated by the Industry and Investor Forum, in order to give startups access to funding opportunities;

3.  Expansion of the market network by encouraging agencies under the Ministry of Industry or Industrial Business Networks to implement the startup’s solutions and to become a domestic market;

4.  Expansion of the international academic network by organizing international academic networking activities in Thailand to create the network partners between startups and Thai investors, and between startups and foreign investors. This network will act as a forum for academic and business information exchange, which is considered as an extension of the international market with a higher market value.