In the world of entrepreneurship, various terms find their place quite easily, and one such term closely related to “startup” is “scaleup.” Let’s take a closer look at what scaleup is and how it follows the concept of a startup.

First, What is a Startup?

“Startup” is a term we’ve been encountering almost everywhere, especially in recent years. Startups are entities that develop a business model to solve a specific problem and subsequently add a revenue model to this business model.

Startups, which solve problems with their business models and earn money through revenue models, can be found in almost every industry today. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that these ventures create a distinct category between SMEs and corporate companies.

But does a startup always remain a startup? This is where the term “scaleup” comes into play as an answer to this question.

What is a Scaleup?

Described as the “phase of exponential growth and development,” scaleup is defined as the next step for ventures following the startup phase. However, not every startup can simply declare, “We are now a scaleup.” There are established criteria widely accepted for identifying scaleups:

  1. Successfully developing its own business model.
  2. Demonstrating a minimum of 20% growth annually and sustaining it for at least 3 years.
  3. Having a team of 10 or more members.

Startups that meet all three of these criteria are considered to have transitioned to the scaleup stage. After scaleup, the venture determines its own strategies. Transitioning into a corporate company by pressing the “corporatization” button is just one of the possible paths.

The Next Step After Startup: Scaleup

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Start-up