Founder story: Kajal Sanghrajka, unlocking $90bn of economic potential

For more than a decade, my co-founder Lukas and I have been deeply immersed in the world of foreign direct investment (FDI)—helping businesses to expand to new markets and governments to attract businesses to their locations. And for just as long, we’ve been frustrated by how complex, inefficient, and time-consuming the process can be.

Lukas had been thinking about a solution—and in August 2024, he reached out to me with an idea on how technology could be used to make expansion to new locations less painful. 

There was one small timing issue… I was nine months pregnant and two weeks away from giving birth. Lukas being a parent himself knew what was about to happen. I asked him to call me back in a few months. 

In the whirlwind of caring for a newborn and sleepless nights, I also saw the rapid advancements in AI and large language models and its application to FDI and business expansion to unlock the full potential of economic growth. 

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 but motherhood brings with the valuable asset of ruthless prioritization and a drive to be a better founder and role model for my daughter. 

By February 2025, this year we interviewed 20+ customers to get some early insights. Businesses were spending 25-30% senior-level time navigating expansions, and CFOs had limited visibility into financial incentives often not knowing they existed or how to go about finding out —especially when entering the US where fluctuating trade policy was introducing new complexity into expansion. 

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. 

Our first product maps 2,500+ incentive programs across the U.S., go to our homepage to learn more and 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.