"Sumgo is a Differentiated Platform... Helping Small Business Owners and Freelancers Succeed"

Interview with Kim Robin, CEO of Brave Mobile
Operating 'Soongo' connecting experts and customers
Over 1,000 services, positive response to affordable prices
Growth despite COVID-19... "Improving quality of life"

"The greatest strength of Soomgo lies in offering over 1,000 types of services. Because it covers most of the services customers need, problems can be solved without installing specialized applications for each field."

Robin Kim, CEO of Brave Mobile, which operates the lifestyle service matching platform 'Soomgo' (photo), spoke about Soomgo's competitiveness on the 30th. From moving, interior design, and cleaning to tutoring, exercise, and hobbies, customers can find hidden experts for numerous desired services all in one place. Experts can also showcase their skills and abilities, and the brokerage fees are cheaper compared to other platforms, which is an advantage.

Since launching Soomgo in 2015, the cumulative number of registered users reached 5.3 million as of the first half of this year, with 9.6 million service requests from customers. The number of registered experts alone is 700,000. In June, Soomgo successfully raised 32 billion KRW in Series C funding. CEO Kim said, "Half of all requests come from existing customers, indicating a high reuse rate, which will be a key factor in Soomgo's future growth."

The commission policy that differentiates Soomgo from other platforms also stands out. CEO Kim explained, "Experts only pay a fee when they send a quote after viewing a customer's service request," adding, "This is different from most platforms that charge 10-20% commission after a transaction is completed and impose additional fees under the name of franchise fees." Whether a transaction is successful largely depends on the individual expert's capabilities. Charging transaction fees each time would mean the platform is occupying the expert's efforts, which is CEO Kim's perspective.

Soomgo's quote prices are determined through an internal algorithm, and as of this month, the average quote per case is about 1,300 KRW, which is inexpensive. Soomgo focuses on matching experts through a matching algorithm that understands customer needs. CEO Kim said, "Experts without online marketing experience spend considerable effort and cost to create touchpoints with customers," adding, "Soomgo replaces that effort and helps experts meet customers at a much lower cost than typical marketing expenses."

Soomgo has maintained growth even during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is because it quickly responded by launching COVID-related services such as disinfection and adding non-face-to-face lesson services as options. CEO Kim said, "Categories like psychological counseling, interior design, organizing and storage consulting, and dog training have grown," adding, "Face-to-face exercise lessons like personal training and swimming, wedding-related services, and tutoring services decreased immediately after the COVID outbreak but later recovered."

After graduating from college in the United States, CEO Kim served as the first CEO of the food delivery platform Yogiyo, where he recognized the attractiveness of the Korean platform market. Although smaller than the global market, he judged that consumer homogeneity is high and the influence of leading companies is overwhelming. After founding Brave Mobile in December 2014, he benchmarked the U.S. unicorn company Thumbtack and devised a service that mediates experts and customers nearby. He participated in Y Combinator (YC), ranked first among the top 100 startup accelerator programs selected by Forbes USA, building a global network and learning management know-how. Sharing success and failure cases with other startup peers also helped him develop problem-solving skills.

Soomgo's vision is "to connect people and improve quality of life." CEO Kim said, "Although Soomgo offers 1,000 types of services, in reality, different services occur at every touchpoint where customers and experts meet." Services can evolve depending on negotiations between customers and experts, and costs, processes, and scope are determined by both parties. He stated, "Technology must ultimately be for people and by people," adding, "A platform where experts and customers connect and create the meaning of life together is the direction Soomgo aims for."