Promising Startup 'Gamechanger' That Changed the Market Landscape Emerges

Setting New Industry Benchmarks in Music Copyright Trading, PropTech, and Business Messenger

Interest is growing in 'gamechanger' startups, which refer to companies or services that play a decisive role in reversing recent market trends. Photo by Getty Images

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] As the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic has brought the digitally savvy MZ generation to the forefront as key consumers, startups offering various innovative services in daily life are gaining attention.

According to industry sources on the 23rd, interest in ‘gamechanger’ startups?companies or services playing a decisive role capable of overturning recent market trends?is increasing. In particular, startups showcasing innovative technologies in new fields such as proptech, music copyrights, and business messengers are demonstrating remarkable growth.

A service featuring proptech technology introduced by Zigbang. Photo by Zigbang

Jikbang, Korea’s First Proptech Company, Expanding from Real Estate Transactions to Residential Management

Jikbang is Korea’s first proptech company, celebrating the 10th anniversary of its service launch this year. Striving to make users’ residential lives more convenient, Jikbang recently introduced gamification technologies?mainly used in the gaming industry?such as 3D computer graphics and virtual reality (VR) into real estate services, driving the development of the proptech market.

In June, Jikbang launched its brokerage subsidiary Ontact Partners, evolving into a comprehensive proptech app that provides services from ‘real estate transactions’ to ‘residential management.’ Ontact Partners is a service model that comprehensively considers the residential formation process from real estate transactions to residential management. Experts in various fields surrounding real estate?brokerage, cleaning, home repair and maintenance, security, and interior design?utilize Jikbang as a digital tool to offer convenience to the end app users.

Since July this year, Jikbang has actively introduced the virtual office ‘Metapolis.’ Metapolis is a metaverse collaboration tool developed in-house by Jikbang. Currently, Jikbang uses the 4th and 5th floors of a virtual building consisting of 30 floors as office space.

Musicow, a Fintech Platform Enabling Anyone to Freely Trade Music Copyrights

Launched officially in 2018, Musicow is the world’s first music copyright trading platform. Its cumulative transaction volume has exceeded 250 billion KRW, setting new monthly transaction records continuously. In August and September of this year, Musicow’s music copyright (copyright royalty participation claims) transaction volumes were 55.6 billion KRW and 70.8 billion KRW respectively, far surpassing last year’s total transaction volume of 33.9 billion KRW. As of October, the cumulative transaction volume has exceeded 250 billion KRW.

The number of members has also increased significantly. As of the end of September last year, there were 154,051 members, which grew more than fourfold to 710,423 members by September 2021.

Musicow has introduced a service that allows anyone?not just artists?to receive monthly ‘music royalties’ and generate additional income through free trading, presenting a new fintech platform unseen before. It is the world’s first case of implementing an IP finance platform that enables individuals to freely trade intangible assets.

The copyrights traded on Musicow are specifically ‘copyright royalty participation claims,’ which grant the right to receive royalty income generated from music copyright property rights and neighboring rights. After purchase, holders receive monthly royalties proportional to their shares or can freely trade in ‘shares’ similar to stocks, allowing for capital gains through trading. Notably, since copyright property rights last for 70 years after the original creator’s death, this feature makes it an attractive lifelong asset.

A Musicow representative stated, “By opening an unprecedented world of music copyright investment, we are popularizing a new concept trading market where ‘culture becomes investment, and investment becomes culture.’ The MZ generation as well as the investment-interested 30s and 40s age groups are actively participating. We will strive to create an innovative ecosystem where all players in the copyright market can win-win, not just focusing on the growth of the company and service.”

Channel Talk, a Business Messenger Service Leading Innovation in Customer Consultation Industry

Channel Talk is a B2B SaaS all-in-one business messenger that solves customer consultation and marketing at once. The number of clients, which was about 17,000 in 2019, has now exceeded 60,000, and sales have recorded continuous growth rates of 5 times, 3.1 times, and 3.3 times annually since 2018.

This rapid growth has attracted investors’ attention, and Channel Talk successfully raised 28 billion KRW in Series C funding last September. The cumulative investment in Channel Corporation, which operates Channel Talk, now amounts to 40 billion KRW.

Channel Talk offers free in-house messenger and customer consultation functions. With a single click on the admin screen, users can easily switch between customer consultation and in-house messenger. When a customer sends a consultation request message, an employee who checks it can immediately invite the staff best suited to respond to the customer’s needs via the in-house messenger. Paid options provide data-driven customer management and marketing (CRM) services.

A Channel Talk representative explained, “We have established a virtuous cycle structure that attracts customers by providing optimal consultation experiences through messenger and induces purchases and revisits through customized marketing.”