Founding a company was the only way to get the pay she desired and a long-term work visa

Danara Kizzy Kuhn wasn’t getting the pay she deserved while working for Korean companies. In fact, she was earning less than her team members, even though she was their manager.

Kizzy took up freelance jobs to make ends meet, but eventually left her full-time job. 

Instead of joining another Korean company, she decided to take things into her own hands — founding her own startup in Korea. 

“I found out during salary negotiations for the team,” she recalls. “To be honest, no Korean company is willing to hire a Korean-educated foreigner for a managerial position with the right pay. They were instead hiring people from abroad to come to South Korea and paying them a high salary.”

It was something that made the most sense for her career.

Kizzy is a Master’s in International Commerce graduate from Korea University. Source: Danara Kizzy Kuhn

Meet Danara Kizzy Kuhn, from pre-med to economics to international commerce

Founding a startup in Korea wasn’t something Kizzy had ever dreamed of doing.

She started her academic journey in pre-med. However, it was during a volunteering gig in Haiti that made her decide to switch her degree. 

“In Haiti, I realised they had a lot of medical personnel; however, the issue was in their economic situation,” Kizzy explains. “They had little to no access to vaccines and medicine. Knowing this, I decided to switch from pre-med to economics.”

In 2014, she enrolled at Cedar Crest College (CCC) to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Global Studies, International Business, and Economics, with minors in Psychology and Neuroscience. 

And just a year into her time at CCC, Kizzy moved to Seoul, South Korea, for a study abroad programme at Seoul Women’s University. 

“Seoul had what I wanted to study as an economics student,” she shares. 

After completing her undergraduate degree, Kizzy returned to Seoul, but this time, as a Master in Economic Development at Korea University. However, she learnt that her master’s degree would not offer her a work visa in South Korea. 

That’s when she stumbled upon international commerce. It was close to what economics students study, had overlapping classes, and offered graduates a work visa — so, she made the switch to a Master in International Commerce.

Kizzy got what she wanted; however, the jobs she got later on weren’t paying her well.

“I’m not getting the same pay as foreigners they bring in for a job,” she says. “If I were brought from the US to work in South Korea, I would be getting paid more, but since I studied here, I’m getting paid less.”

So, founding a startup in Korea was a way to make a change.

Kizzy has been living in South Korea for over 10 years. Source: Danara Kizzy Kuhn

Founding BrandUp Korea in a country with few foreign entrepreneurs

There are over 29,315 startups across South Korea. Of these, only 403 of the startups have been founded by women. While there are no exact data on how many of these founders are foreign women, Kizzy is among the few, alongside Hangeul Kwaja (한글과자) founder, Nidhi Agrawal. 

The country has been promoting startups and offering visas such as the Korea Startup Visa (D-8-4) and the Startup Preparation Visa (D-10-2). Even programmes like OASIS (Overall Assistance for Startup Immigration System) provide structured support to help inspire entrepreneurs to build a life and a company in South Korea.

For Kizzy, founding a startup in Korea wasn’t as simple as you may think. It came from years of work experience and observation. 

“I saw a huge gap in Korean companies,” she shares. “A lot of them needed foreigners to be able to understand cultures abroad to penetrate those markets, but at the same time, they could not afford sponsored visas to hire them.”

Seeing the gap, Kizzy founded BrandUp Korea.

 

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Initially, she wanted to start an agency that would enable Korean companies to hire foreign freelancers for various tasks abroad. However, over time, she realised there was a large influx of foreigners seeking to start their own businesses in Korea, all thanks to the Startup Visa. 

“But the foreigners who start their own startup in Korea don’t actually understand the business culture here because they don’t have experience living here, so I decided to position myself as the bridge between them and local Korean society,” Kizzy explains.

BrandUp Korea oversees not only the expansion of overseas businesses in South Korea but also all aspects of brand strategy, global marketing, and client acquisition — supporting organisations as they enter new markets, improve global communication strategies, and strengthen their brand identity both within and outside South Korea.

Thanks to her hard work and the support of her clients, Kizzy is in a more stable financial and visa position, which enables her to help smaller businesses, such as multi-generational artisans, bring their specialities abroad.

“Working with big companies can bring in more money,” Kizzy admits. “But I find it more fulfilling to help smaller businesses and artisans expand abroad.”

Kizzy speaks four languages: French, English, Korean, and Spanish. Source: Danara Kizzy Kuhn

The reality faced by foreign startups in Korea

Founding a startup in Korea has its restrictions; thankfully, Kizzy was able to register her business in just 30 minutes. 

“I already had a residency card, and I’m fairly fluent in Korean, so it was quick,” she shares. “However, the issue is sustaining my startup.”

As of January 1, 2026, BrandUp Korea is a year and two months old. However, Kizzy sometimes does not know when it will end. 

It’s not that she has no confidence in her business, but it’s all based on the rules and regulations of founding startups in Korea — and one of them is that her work visa is income-based.

“If I don’t make the income I’m required to, I will lose my work visa status,” Kizzy says. “So it’s a huge risk for me, and there can be some self-doubt.”

She also has to take the business cycle in South Korea into account, primarily when it’s focused solely on the B2B (brand-to-brand) side. 

“There are ups and downs throughout the year,” she explains. “The start of the year is often the slowest, and sometimes, you’re not making any income, and you start to panic, but once business picks up again, you feel secure.”

As terrifying as it is, Kizzy decided to look at it from an exciting perspective. 

During the early months of the year, she focuses her work on smaller businesses, primarily targeting B2C (brand-to-customer) clients to ease her anxiety about meeting the income threshold. 

The best part? Once the busy months arrive, she’s so busy she can’t take all the clients that approach her.

However, there are times when she has no clients.

“It’s scary working as a foreign startup founder,” Kizzy shares. “But this is what I have to do to survive.”