[Start人] Interview with Co-CEOs Lee Chaehyun & Baek Seungguk
Analyzing 30 Billion Monthly User Behavior Logs... Providing Personalized Content
Countdown to Entering the Outdoor Advertising Market
Introducing a Service That Converts Video to Text
[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] While browsing the internet, I came across news about the global expansion of the metaverse (extended virtual world) market. Near the bottom of the page, under "Content You May Like," there was a link to news about Meta (formerly Facebook) targeting the metaverse market by recently launching the virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) headset 'Meta Quest Pro VR.' Out of curiosity, I clicked the link and checked the detailed specs. The performance was outstanding, but the price of $1,500 (about 2.19 million KRW) was quite steep. Just as I was about to close the news page, an advertisement popped up offering a more cost-effective VR headset at a discounted price. Before I knew it, I found myself eagerly waiting for the delivery to arrive.
Many people have probably had similar experiences while consuming online content. The screen often displays content mainly related to the areas I am interested in, sometimes making me wonder if my PC or smartphone has been hacked. However, in most cases, this is likely the result of Daable's artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm at work. Founded in 2015, Daable is a startup that provides personalized content and advertising recommendation services to over 3,000 clients worldwide, including media, portals, applications, and blogs, based on big data processing and personalization technology. The company has expanded into 11 countries, including South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Hong Kong.
At the WeWork office in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, co-CEOs Chaehyun Lee and Seungguk Baek agreed, saying, "Information is content that users want, but unwanted information is spam." CEO Lee stated, "We collect 30 billion user behavior logs every month and analyze them with AI to provide personalized content. Depending on the situation, we currently operate about 1,000 servers, and there are not many companies managing data at this scale."
In November last year, Daable was acquired for 100 billion KRW by Yanolja Cloud, a subsidiary of Yanolja, the number one leisure platform company in Korea. Considering the 51% stake acquisition price, the company was valued at approximately 200 billion KRW at that time. This achievement was made in just five and a half years since its founding in May 2015 with a capital of 50 million KRW. The market value may exceed this figure as of this year. Daable recorded sales of 22 billion KRW in the first half of this year, a 53% increase compared to the same period last year. It expects sales of 50 billion KRW this year. CEO Baek said, "Although we have grown in Korea, our overseas performance was better this year, especially in Taiwan, where media traffic is higher than in Korea."
Daable is currently promoting a collaborative project called 'YDSP' with Yanolja. YDSP stands for 'Yanolja Demand Side Platform.' Utilizing Yanolja's big data and expertise in the travel and leisure industry, Daable provides a platform for travel industry-tailored advertising. CEO Baek oversees the business through weekly meetings with Yanolja executives. He explained, "We developed a 'Dynamic Product Ad' that automatically synthesizes hotel images with price, product, and review information to display as ads, which is being used in some of Yanolja's Facebook ads. We are developing the platform to meet the marketing needs of global small and medium-sized hotels affiliated with Yanolja."
News content is being recommended by Daeble's artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm.
Daable is not only focusing on online advertising but has recently developed solutions targeting the offline advertising market, such as outdoor billboards and subway displays, and is entering the final stages of this market. Previously, it was impossible to know who viewed outdoor ads, the peak viewing times, or whether actual sales were generated through those ads. However, Daable has developed technology that installs cameras around billboards to collect and analyze user behavior data. Currently, cameras are installed on 42 outdoor billboards in shared offices in the Seoul metropolitan area for beta testing. The plan is to expand this to about 300 locations next year. CEO Lee emphasized, "While online data leaves records that allow various analyses, offline data did not, making it difficult to provide personalized content or negotiate prices with advertisers. Now, offline advertising is taking its first step toward the direction online advertising has developed." He added, "The domestic market size is currently estimated at about 1 trillion KRW. If expanded to overseas markets, it could open a market even larger than our existing business."
As part of its new business, Daable is also operating a service that converts videos into text using speech-to-text technology. Simply put, AI transforms YouTube videos into news or blog-style images and text. The company is currently partnering with about 60 influencers to develop this business. They focused on users who want to access famous YouTubers' content in text form rather than video. CEO Baek said, "This service is for people who cannot play videos or want to quickly find specific information through text search. It has received a good response, with over 100,000 daily users."
CEOs Lee and Baek plan to focus on strengthening their business internally rather than seeking additional investment for the time being, aiming for an initial public offering (IPO) later. CEO Lee said, "We have discussed with Yanolja about growing the company significantly and going public. If market conditions are favorable, we are open to listing domestically or overseas." CEO Baek also expressed his ambition, saying, "Our goal is to grow into a global technology company where 90% of sales come from overseas and 90% of employees are foreigners."
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