• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.99-109
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• 2015

The investment in healthcare industry has recently increased not only for global ventures but also for the domestic ventures. However, there has been hardship of founding and investment caused by healthcare startups characteristics that are costly and time consuming. In this study, the applicability of 'Lean Startup' theory to healthcare ventures was explored through the case of a domestic startup which accomplished funding from VC and KOSDAQ after establishing based on its technology in healthcare industry. There have been numerous case studies that applied 'Lean Startup' to IT industry. However, this case study that applied 'Lean Startup' to healthcare industry have some implications as follow: First, it is critical to conduct a hypothesis testing at initial research stage through R&D of 'MVP' (Minimum Viable Product) as the prototype testing is strictly prohibited in healthcare industry. Second, healthcare R&D teams ought to be well organized as startup teams and all researchers should be equipped with entrepreneurship as the licensing process in healthcare industry is time-consuming and costly due to issues like clinical studies. Lastly, management skills as smart and light as 'Lean Startup' are required in order to encourage young engineers' technology startups.