'5060' Startup Services That Spend Money Are Rising

5060 Hobby Platform 'Woori Class' Courses Quadruple
Investment Floods into Fashion Platform Targeting 50s

Startups targeting people in their 50s and 60s are rapidly growing. This means that online-based startup services are not just playgrounds for the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z). The current 50s and 60s experienced their 20s and 30s in the late 1990s when high-speed internet began to spread in Korea, making them the first generation to experience IT changes. This age group, once called the middle-aged, has now emerged as the main players in online consumption.

On the 2nd, Saenghwal Research Institute announced that the number of courses on the hobby platform 'Uri Class,' launched last June targeting people in their 50s and 60s, has increased to 239. The service started with about 50 classes, but in less than two months, it has grown more than fourfold. Baking, flower arranging, coffee, guided tours, art, and woodcraft are gaining popularity. Confirming the demand, Saenghwal Research Institute plans to secure about 500 instructors and open 1,000 classes by the end of the year.

The company operating the cleaning service 'Cleaning Research Institute' expanded its business area to hobby classes this year by identifying the needs of cleaning managers in their 50s and 60s. In fact, according to 'Changes in Online Consumption Behavior by Generation and Implications' by Hana Financial Research Institute and 'Credit Card Payment Data' by Meritz Securities Research Center, the number of e-commerce payers in their 50s and 60s is nearly doubling every year. Additionally, more than 80% are willing to invest money and time in hobby activities.

As growth potential has been confirmed, investment funds are also pouring into startups targeting this generation. Rapolabs, the operator of 'Queenit,' a mobile fashion platform for women in their 50s, recently raised 34 billion KRW in a B2 round of funding. This investment is an extension of the Series B round from February last year, led by Altos Ventures. With this, Rapolabs' cumulative investment amount reached 70 billion KRW. Launched in September 2020, Queenit has secured over 1,300 brands and achieved 5.4 million cumulative downloads. Notably, it has recorded monthly profits since March this year. Choi Heemin, co-CEO of Rapolabs, said, "With previous investments and the growth of our service so far, we are proving that the mobile fashion market for women in their 40s and 50s is sufficiently attractive."

Bind, which operates 'Athler,' a fashion platform for middle-aged men, also attracted pre-Series A investments from D.CAMP, Fast Ventures, and N Partners. Athler was launched at the end of 2022 and surpassed 50,000 monthly active users (MAU) within five months of service launch, showing a growth trend with transaction volume increasing by 50% monthly since launch. Kim Si-hwa, CEO of Bind, said, "The active senior market is growing rapidly by more than 15% annually."