Digitalization as a factor of fast internationalization of startups

Abstract

The article defines the essence of the concept of "global startups", and examines the factors influencing their emergence and rapid spread in the global economy. The size of the local market, the state of development of the national innovation ecosystem, the number and availability of re-sources, the level of competition in the domestic market, state protection of intellectual property rights and technologies, etc. The authors summarized the approaches to interpreting the essence of the internationaliza-tion and digitalization processes and investigated their impact on global startup entrepreneurship. It was found that the connection between digitalization and the internationalization of startups is sig-nificant, as entrepreneurs increasingly use information and communication technologies in their dai-ly activities to analyze national and international market information, sell products or services, or contact potential customers, suppliers, or strategic customers and partners. Digitalization refers to the use of digital infrastructure, the Internet as a medium for selling products and services and cre-ating value for customers. Attention is focused on the importance of digitalization for the early internationalization of startups. Systematized key factors of the internationalization of start-up firms: institutional envi-ronment of the home and host country, industry and market conditions of the country of origin and host country, state of development of formal and informal institutions, access to venture and social capital networks, availability of knowledge about foreign markets, leadership and entrepreneurial traits cofounders of startups, their cultural traits and cognitive skills, the presence of global think-ing and broad business orientation of startup founders. Based on the analysis of the success stories of domestic startups on the global market, the conditions and features of the emergence of global startups of Ukrainian origin were studied. For local startups to enter international markets, strategies for their rapid internationaliza-tion have been identified: joining international professional associations, integrating the local busi-ness into the system of European and global value-added chains, and developing bilateral plans for industry and key economic areas of the country.