April 30, 2025
For more than a decade, my co-founder Lukas and I have been deeply immersed in the world of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). We have spent our careers sitting on both sides of the table—helping ambitious businesses expand to new markets and assisting governments in attracting high-value businesses to their locations.
But for just as long, we’ve been frustrated by the friction in the system. Historically, the process of finding the right location and securing incentives has been opaque, fragmented, and notoriously slow. We realized that for most companies, "expansion" meant drowning in spreadsheets, relying on anecdotal advice, or hiring expensive consultants who still utilized outdated manual processes. The data existed, but it was buried in PDFs, hidden on municipal websites, or locked behind gatekeepers.
Lukas had been obsessing over a solution. In August 2024, he reached out to me with an idea: technology could finally be used to make expansion to new locations less painful and more transparent.
The Timing Challenge
There was one small timing issue… I was nine months pregnant and two weeks away from giving birth. Lukas, being a parent himself, knew exactly what was about to happen. I asked him to call me back in a few months.
However, founders rarely stop thinking, even when life changes. In the whirlwind of caring for a newborn and surviving sleepless nights, I began connecting the dots. I saw the rapid advancements in AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) and realized their specific application to FDI and business expansion.
Bridging the Gap with AI
We realized that by leveraging LLMs, we could structure unstructured data—turning thousands of pages of complex trade policies, local tax codes, and zoning laws into actionable, searchable insights. This was the key to unlocking the full potential of economic growth.
We aren't just digitizing a list; we are building an intelligent infrastructure for growth. We are building the engine that allows a mid-sized tech firm to navigate incentives with the same sophistication as a Fortune 500 giant, democratizing access to information that was previously out of reach.
By December 2024, I officially joined Upsite as a co-founder. It has not been easy to grow a small human and start a company simultaneously, but motherhood brings with it the valuable asset of ruthless prioritization. It has given me a renewed drive to be a better founder and a role model for my daughter, proving that ambition and caregiving are not mutually exclusive.
The Hidden Cost of Expansion
By February 2025, we had interviewed 20+ customers to get early insights, and the feedback was stark. We discovered that the "cost" of expansion isn't just capital expenditure; it is the immense opportunity cost of lost time and missed funds.
Businesses were spending 25-30% of senior-level time navigating expansions. Even worse, CFOs had limited visibility into financial incentives, often not knowing they existed or how to go about finding them. This was especially true when entering the US, where fluctuating trade policy was introducing new layers of complexity into expansion strategies.
We spoke to founders who had previously walked away from non-dilutive capital simply because they didn't know which form to file or whom to call. In the current economic climate, where capital efficiency is paramount, leaving money on the table is no longer an option.
Unlocking $90 Billion in Value
In the US alone, there is $90 billion available annually in state and local incentives—for example, through tax credits, grants, and local economic development programs—that could significantly de-risk expansions.
However, Upsite is about more than just tax credits. It is about the fundamental flow of innovation and capital. When we remove the friction from FDI, we don't just help a company save money; we help communities thrive. That $90 billion represents new factories, research centers, and headquarters. It translates into local jobs, infrastructure development, and cross-border collaboration.
The Solution
Our first product maps 2,500+ incentive programs across the U.S., creating a match-making ecosystem. We are helping governments showcase their unique value propositions to the right companies, and we are helping companies find the communities where they will be most welcomed and supported.
Book a call to discuss your expansion.
This is just the beginning. We’re excited to make international expansion smarter, faster, and more data-driven—unlocking economic growth for businesses and governments alike.
