Started as a part-timer at Tudari... "Aiming to become a comprehensive food service platform"

Got Business Idea While Helping Mother at Hofjip
Expanded to Remote Queueing and Restaurant Reservations
Leaping to B2B and B2C Integrated Platform

Yong Tae-soon, CEO of Catch Table, is being interviewed by Asia Economy.

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] There was a time when ratings or the number of reviews were the standards for a good restaurant. However, after the so-called 'undisclosed advertisement' controversy, the reliability of such data has significantly declined. In fact, if you're curious whether a place is truly a good restaurant, you can simply check how many people are lined up during meal times. This is the most basic yet reliable way to identify a good restaurant. The only difficulty is that it's hard to call the restaurant every time to check how many people are currently waiting.

Addressing this concern, the application 'CatchTable' has recently emerged as a 'restaurant verifier' in the dining industry. CatchTable allows users to check reservation status in real-time and also offers an on-site waiting service. The 'remote queueing' service is expected to be launched on the CatchTable app in the first half of this year, becoming an essential feature for visiting popular restaurants.

CatchTable is led by Yong Tae-soon, CEO of its operating company Ward. He gained business ideas while helping his mother run a pub called 'Tudari' in Seoul's Myeonmok-dong since his university days in the late 1990s. At that time, store sales and reservation statuses were recorded manually. This often led to mistakes, and some employees even falsified the books to embezzle cash. After his mother encouraged the introduction of a POS (Point of Sale) system to digitize operations, these problems disappeared completely. CEO Yong recalled, "At first, I opposed the introduction of the POS system but soon became a believer. It was around then that I thought applying digital technology to the dining industry could become a viable business."

Although Yong wanted to run a store, his mother wanted him to get a job. After graduating from university, he joined an advertising agency, then moved to a game company, and later transferred to NHN. At NHN, he was responsible for marketing, data analysis, and planning. In 2017, he left NHN with three colleagues he met there to start Ward.

Yong Tae-sun, CEO of Catch Table

In its early days, Ward's main service was a B2B (business-to-business) focused reservation and customer management service. It provided each store with information such as reservation status, visit frequency, and no-show records of app-registered customers. They expanded franchise stores through a paid subscription model, and as of the first half of last year, monthly active users (MAU) reached 2 million, with 5,000 franchise stores. CEO Yong said, "At first, investors and store owners often turned us away because they didn't understand the business. But when we persuaded them that we would become an integrated platform like Yanolja in the dining industry, they gradually opened their minds."

Having secured a solid database by increasing franchise stores, CEO Yong launched the B2C (business-to-consumer) service CatchTable in September 2020. For about two years and four months, the focus was on helping customers make restaurant reservations. Users could input location, store name, menu, price, etc., and make real-time reservations. Since early this month, they have been operating the queueing service 'CatchTable Waiting.' Their goal is to closely chase the current top app in this sector, 'Tabling.'

Ward raised 30 billion KRW in Series C funding in April last year, reaching a total accumulated investment of 42.5 billion KRW. CEO Yong plans to further enhance the CatchTable service to the level of recommending personalized restaurants. Additionally, they aim to grow CatchTable into a comprehensive dining platform encompassing both B2B and B2C. CEO Yong confidently stated, "This year, we will continue to introduce new services such as table orders and kiosks to expand the platform. It will become an essential app for gourmets' daily lives."