Strategic Seizure of Regulatory-Based Startup Opportunities: Comparative Cases of Automotive Cybersecurity Startups

This study investigates how technology-based startups strategically respond to regulatory changes in the automotive cybersecurity industry, emphasizing the concept of regulation-based entrepreneurship. While prior entrepreneurship literature has treated regulation primarily as an external constraint, this research reframes it as a potential catalyst for opportunity creation and strategic innovation. Adopting a multiple-case study design, the study examines three representative Korean startups-Autonomous A2Z, Autocrypt, and Fescaro-operating under the UNECE WP.29 R155/R156 cybersecurity framework. The findings reveal that regulatory timing, strategic agility, technological internalization, and institutional signaling jointly mediate how startups convert compliance pressure into growth opportunities. Five propositions (P1-P5) are derived to explain these mechanisms, highlighting that regulation can function as an entrepreneurship-promoting infrastructure rather than a market barrier. Theoretically, this research extends technology-based entrepreneurship and resource-based perspectives by conceptualizing regulation as an endogenous opportunity driver within a dynamic capabilities framework. Practically, it provides policy and managerial insights for fostering innovation in regulation-driven industries. Overall, this study contributes to a more integrative understanding of how institutional forces and entrepreneurial actions co-evolve in the context of digital and regulatory transformation.