Baemin Supports Up to 1.5 Billion KRW for Store Setup Loans

'First Home Store Loan' Applicants to be Recruited on the 16th

Woowa Brothers, the operator of Baedal Minjok (CEO Lee Guk-hwan), announced that it will recruit applicants for the second phase of the 'First My Store Purchase Loan' program starting from the 16th. The First My Store Purchase Loan is a financial support program established in 2021 by Woowa Brothers and KB Kookmin Bank to assist self-employed individuals in the food service industry. It was designed to help food service self-employed operators who want to purchase a store but find it difficult to use first-tier financial institutions due to low credit ratings and lack of personal collateral.

Woowa Brothers raised 5 billion KRW in funds necessary for operating the loan product, and KB Kookmin Bank offers loan products with preferential interest rates up to a total limit of 50 billion KRW to food service self-employed operators. If personal collateral is insufficient, Woowa Brothers provides collateral. Loans can cover up to 90% of the store purchase funds. In the first year of the program last year, 13 final loan-eligible applicants were selected, among whom 3 food service operators received support for store purchase funds.

In this second phase, the loan limit has been increased from the previous 1 billion KRW to 1.5 billion KRW, and the collateral support amount has also been expanded from 400 million KRW to 600 million KRW. Applications can be submitted through Baemin Food Service Plaza until the 29th of this month. Eligibility requires operators who have been running a leased store for more than 10 years based on the business registration certificate's opening date, and the business type must be a restaurant. Applicants do not need to be registered on Baemin. Woowa Brothers will issue recommendation letters to eligible operators, after which KB Kookmin Bank will conduct loan screening.

Kwon Yong-gyu, Head of the Food Service Solution Center at Woowa Brothers, said, "The purpose of this program is to support self-employed owners who have diligently operated their stores for more than 10 years to run their 'truly own store' for a long time." He added, "We hope this will reduce the burden of rent, improve profitability, provide practical help, and allow owners to focus more on their business."