Hana Bank Signs MOU with Shared Kitchen Platform WeCook to Support F&B Startups

Hana Bank signed a business agreement with Simple Project Company on the 29th at the Simple Project Company headquarters located in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Kang Seongmuk, Vice President of Hana Bank's Central Sales Group 2 (left in the photo), and Kim Kiwoong, CEO of Simple Project Company, signed the agreement and posed for a commemorative photo.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] Hana Bank announced on the 30th that it has signed a strategic business agreement with Simple Project Company, an F&B business solutions company operating the shared kitchen platform ‘Wecook’.

Through the business agreement signed the previous day, Hana Bank will provide financial support for securing initial investment costs such as deposits to food service startups and business operators, as well as preferential interest rate partnership savings accounts for accumulating large sums of money. In addition to customized financial services for the food service industry, the bank plans to support continuous growth after startup through financial education and regular tax and management consulting, thereby establishing a win-win cooperative relationship.

Wecook is an innovative growth company that first introduced the concept of shared kitchens in Korea in 2015. Last year, it was the only shared kitchen operator selected as a pilot project for the government’s ‘Regulatory Reform Sandbox,’ and currently about 400 food service startups and business operators are registered and operating their businesses in Wecook’s shared kitchens.

A shared kitchen is a service where multiple food service startups and business operators share one space equipped with kitchen facilities and equipment by dividing the area or time, or use it simultaneously. Existing food service entrepreneurs had to bear high initial costs and risks, but through Wecook’s shared kitchen, they can reduce initial investment costs and utilize Wecook’s well-equipped infrastructure and sales channels.

Kang Sung-mook, Vice President of Hana Bank’s Central Sales Group 2, said, “The key words of the post-COVID-19 era?sharing, non-face-to-face, and coexistence?are embodied in this agreement,” and added, “We hope that the support for F&B startups by the Wecook platform and Hana Bank will be the starting point for creating a representative F&B ecosystem in Korea.”

Kim Ki-woong, CEO of Wecook, said, “Initial financial support is a great help to F&B startups, and acquiring tax and accounting knowledge as well as the proper use of financial services are also essential,” and added, “We hope this agreement will be a cornerstone for positive change in the F&B market, which has been contracted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”