Stayfolio Kim Bong-jin, a former chairman and chief executive officer of Woowa Brothers Corp., the operator of South Korea’s No. 1 food delivery app Baedal Minjok, or Baemin in short, is gearing up for a new phase in his entrepreneurship about a year after he left the company he founded.
Grande Clip newly founded by Kim announced on Friday that it has acquired a 50% stake in Stayfolio, a Korea-based property rental platform, becoming the latter’s biggest shareholder with management right.
This is the first platform startup acquisition by Kim since he left Woowa Brothers last summer following his resignation from the company’s board chairperson in July and chief executive officer position in February.
Kim had been barred from working for a platform company for a year since his departure from Woowa Brothers under a non-compete agreement. As the agreed period was over, Kim is now free to enter into competition with its former employer.
As Kim is touted as a trailblazer after transforming the local dining industry with the launch of the Baemin app in 2010, his latest move heightens expectations for his next entrepreneurial success.
OLD BOYS RETURN
Baemin’s founding members have regrouped to lend hands to Kim in rebuilding a new startup empire.
Chang In-sung, former marketing director of Woowa Brothers, will lead Stayfolio. Another ex-Baemin executive Go Dong-hee has also decided to join Stayfolio.
Kim Bong-jin, founder of Baedal Minjok, Korea's No. 1 food delivery app The online accommodation platform offers about 500 curated premium lodgings, including its self-managed fine stays. Its member accommodations are mainly in Korea but also in Japan, Taiwan and Southeast Asian countries.
Kim joined Stayfolio’s early-stage funding round as a private investor in 2015 and additionally chipped in through a venture fund formed by him.
Kim is expected to reboot Stayfolio under his direction. The lodging platform’s growth has stagnated in recent years in an endemic era, with its revenue dropping 19.6% to 3.7 billion won ($2.7 million) in 2023 from 4.6 billion won in 2022.
INNOVATION CONTINUES
Earlier this year, Kim heralded his return with the launch of a new business venture called Newmix Coffee, a café selling Korean-style sweet white instant coffee. It was followed by the introduction of wearable paper toy brand whatawonder and chair magazine Magazine C.
Behind the new ventures is a new startup called Grande Clip, founded by Kim in September last year. The company is joined by many ex-Woowa Brothers employees hoping to repeat the success of their former employer.
Besides Grande Clip, Kim is also said to have recently taken over 45% in AMCR, the operator of golf apparel brand AMAZINGCRE and invested in Banlife, the operator of the same name app for pet-friendly accommodation and service search late last year.