LG Uplus Supports Internal Venture Independence... Equity Investment in 'Eollong'

Operating In-House Venture Incubation Program for 4 Years, 4 Teams Spin Off

Kim So-yeon, co-founder of Eollong (right), and Kim Da-in, Chief Content Officer (left). Photo by LG Uplus

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] LG Uplus announced on the 11th that it will continue to support the growth of 'Along,' which started as an in-house venture and successfully spun off last month, by investing in its shares.

Along is a startup that provides private outing services for pet families. Through LG Uplus's equity investment, it has secured the momentum to establish a stable platform service environment and settle in the pet family outing market.

Along, selected as the pet service team through LG Uplus's in-house venture incubation program in September last year, launched and operates 'Madang Space,' the nation's first pet family outing place reservation platform, in April this year. Madang Space offers information on various private spaces such as mansions with swimming pools and large grassy yards, making it popular among families with dogs that have low sociability, those organizing social gatherings, and households with large or multiple dogs.

Madang Space provides outing places for pet families while enabling hosts to generate income through idle land. Since the service launch in April, the number of reservations and transaction amounts have increased by 190% and 220%, respectively, and host space registrations have grown by 150%, showing significant growth.

After selecting Along as an in-house venture, LG Uplus supported market validation, customer analysis, and business development for six months to help commercialize the initial idea. Along was finally selected for spin-off after being recognized for its innovation and growth potential through five rounds of internal and external evaluations. In addition to equity investment, LG Uplus supports Along’s smooth transition outside the company through a post-spin-off care program that includes office space, HR, legal, accounting, marketing, mentoring, and government support projects.

Kim So-yeon, CEO of Along, said, "With LG Uplus's active support and backing, Along has been recognized for its business vision in a short period and launched as an independent corporation. We will do our best to establish ourselves as a leading company that solves the pain points of pet family customers and grow further as a future business partner of LG Uplus."

Kim Sung-mook, head of strategic investment at LG Uplus, said, "The decisive reason for deciding on spin-off and equity investment was the innovative mindset and passion of Along’s CEO and the fact that Along is a new business that must respond agilely to a rapidly changing market. We will continue to discover innovative ideas within LG Uplus, commercialize them, and secure partners to pioneer future markets together."

Meanwhile, LG Uplus's in-house venture incubation program has been operating for four years from 2019 to this year to cultivate an innovative startup mindset within the company, discover new growth engines, and pioneer future markets. In-house venture teams are guaranteed independent operation to focus on service development and receive up to 120 million KRW in commercialization support funds per team, as well as training from external professional accelerators. So far, four teams including Along have undergone thorough verification processes and spun off as independent corporations to expand their businesses.