Startups are changing the culture by infiltrating every aspect of our lives. They’re breaking the mold, penetrating deep into lives and changing the very DNA of how people think, act and speak.

From restaurant reservation platforms that have revolutionized eating out in Korea to changes in laundry, healthcare, and the way we communicate, these game-changers are not only changing our lifestyles, but disrupting entire industries.

From making reservations at famous restaurants to registering for waiting list… ‘CatchTable’

Eating out is an integral part of a fulfilling life. There is a platform that has made this experience more convenient and enjoyable. It’s CatchTable. CatchTable is revolutionizing the dining experience like never before by providing a one-stop shop for reservations, waiting lists and food pick-ups.

CatchTable has partnered with popular restaurants in Korea to provide reservation services by category and theme, including high-end fine dining. But CatchTable doesn’t stop at reservations. CatchTable offers features such as curated content that recommends restaurants that match your tastes, and a dining history that allows you to add restaurants you plan to visit to your calendar to keep track of them, making your dining life more enjoyable.

Going one step further, the company recently launched ‘Catchtable Waiting’. This service allows diners to be assigned a table number on the spot without having to wait in line. This is a remarkable feature that sets them apart from competing platforms.

By introducing settings for each type of visit, such as dine-in and take-out, as well as waiting management functions for each seat, such as terraces and halls, and segmented functions for each type of customer, such as infants and pets, it is receiving a lot of love from merchants. In fact, popular stores such as ‘YeonDon’ in Jeju, ‘London Bagel Museum’ and ‘SukSungDo’, which are considered to be the best waiting hotspots in Korea, are introducing CatchTable Waiting one after another to create a new dining culture.

CatchTable also offers a ‘CatchTable POS’ solution optimized for the restaurant industry. CatchTable POS provides essential features such as customized menu editing for each store, as well as a sales analysis system that directly impacts efficient operations and increased sales.

As of December 2022, the company continues to break its own records, including over 3 million monthly active users (MAUs) and over 6,000 merchants. CatchTable plans to continue to spread the ‘fun dining culture’ in Korea based on its integrated solution for the restaurant industry, covering B2C and B2B.

Clean clothes at your doorstep when you wake up. Contactless mobile laundry ‘Laundrygo’

Lifegoeson, which operates the contactless mobile laundry service ‘Laundrygo’, is focusing on the fundamental changes in lifestyle caused by the rise of single and two-person households to make modern life more convenient.

Launched in Korea in March 2019, Laundrygo is a laundry service that allows users to request laundry pickup via a mobile app and have their laundry delivered the next day after leaving it outside their home. Laundrygo is notable for disrupting the domestic laundry market by launching ‘Laundry24’, an unmanned smart laundromat, and ‘Laundrygo Business’, a hotel laundry service.

Laundrygo’s revenue growth has averaged 300% annually, and in March, the company surpassed $5 billion in revenue and achieved its first positive operating profit before amortization. In 2021, the company acquired A+Machinery, a US-based laundry factory EPC company, and has proprietary technology for laundry smart factory design, equipment procurement and construction. It currently operates B2C smart factories in Deungchon-dong and Seongsu-dong, Seoul, and Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province, and B2B smart factories in Paju, Gyeonggi-do.

‘Karrot Market’ helps revitalize local communities by sharing life information among neighbors

Some services have changed the way people communicate with each other. Karrot Market, a local living community, has created a culture of locally based communication and sparked an unprecedented hyperlocal trend. Hyperlocal means characteristic of or related to a small area, and it is also related to the culture of “seur-se-gweon,” an area where you can walk around in slippers near your home.

Karrot Market increases communication between neighbors through “Neighborhood Life,” which allows users to share useful information and news about their neighborhood and their daily lives, and “Join Us,” which allows users to arrange meetings with neighbors.

In fact, according to Karrot Market, an analysis of the top shared keywords in neighborhood life in the first quarter of this year revealed that people frequently share information about the hours and reviews of hospitals near their homes that are difficult to find through portal searches, information about nearby gyms and Pilates institutes, and moving-related information such as packing and move-in cleaning.

Transform your space with your own hands. ‘Todayhouse’, which includes everything from interior design to home goods in one place

Starting as an interior content platform in 2014, Todayhouse has grown into a ‘lifestyle super-app’ by offering a unique service that organically combines content, community, and commerce.

Unlike other fragmented home platforms, the unique content approach, which seems to elevate the space itself into a culture, has led to a craze for Todayhouse among the Millennials and Gen Z.

Todayhouse provides a variety of content, including interior content, product information, guides from home styling experts, and do-it-yourself know-how from ordinary people. In particular, it provides customized interior content according to the structure, square footage and style of the house, so that beginners can easily follow along.

‘Dr.Call’, a non-face-to-face medical treatment platform, provides convenient medical treatment services to domestic, foreign and overseas patients

The medical field, which has always been a face-to-face domain, is experiencing a new culture with the emergence of non-face-to-face medical platforms.

Digital health company LifeSemantics’ non-face-to-face medical service ‘Dr.Call’ was the first service to receive a medical device item license from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of the Republic of Korea. In June 2020, it provided non-face-to-face medical treatment and counseling services to overseas Koreans who were unable to receive face-to-face medical treatment due to social distance, and is now expanding its services to Koreans as non-face-to-face medical treatment services are available for a limited time after COVID-19.

The convenience of non-face-to-face medical treatment has changed people’s daily lives and perceptions. According to the status and performance of temporary non-face-to-face medical treatment announced by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in March, 86% of clinics have treated 10,379 patients in the past three years (February 24, 2020 – January 31, 2023), and the return rate and future utilization intention were close to 90%. Amidst these changes, Dr.Call’s demand for non-face-to-face medical treatment has been steadily increasing, and the Company continues to grow, with plans to launch a B2G non-face-to-face medical business through business agreements with public institutions and to export the Dr.Call platform overseas.