[Next K-Startup] Easily Trade Gym Memberships

Lee Junseop, CEO of Gumper, "Membership Trading on Tokket"
Digital Assets Issued Conveniently for Everyone

Editor's NoteThe competition rate for the first accelerating program of Next Elevation, a startup accelerator established by Asia Economy, was 26 to 1. Over 130 startups from various fields applied, and 5 startups were finally selected. The competition is still ongoing. Startups selected as outstanding companies during the three-month program can receive up to 100 million KRW in investment. Next Elevation plans to continue attracting follow-up investments through a demo day scheduled for December. The curtain has already risen on this intense battle. Given the fierce competition, the ambitions of the five startups are extraordinary. We visited the site where the forging for innovation is in full swing.

This time, I must succeed in dieting. Everyone is confident when they first visit and register at a gym. Since exercise must continue, many readily opt for more economical long-term memberships. However, we always face countless reasons that prevent us from maintaining exercise. When motivation wanes, the gym membership registered with enthusiasm becomes a problem. Transferring it to someone else is quite cumbersome. Gamper is a startup that developed a service to solve this inconvenience. It is a platform where memberships can be conveniently transferred and acquired online. Not only gym memberships but also memberships in various fields, gift certificates, gifticons, tickets, and any assets issued and traded digitally are included on this platform.

CEO Lee Joon-seop is being interviewed by Asia Economy. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

Lee Joon-seop, CEO of Gamper, said, "We provide the ‘Tokket’ service utilizing blockchain technology," adding, "Digital assets can be safely and conveniently issued on the blockchain and traded in secondary markets." Tokket is a service that issues and exchanges Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). It also allows the creation of communities to share related information. However, NFTs can seem difficult and inaccessible. Gamper’s approach to an easily understandable practical use case is memberships.

In fact, Tokket is expanding its application range through collaboration with the fitness company CoachN. Memberships worth 200 million KRW for fitness competitions hosted by CoachN sold out in just one day. Application cases continue to emerge, such as issuing completion medals for running races as NFTs. CEO Lee explained, "After seeing the CoachN case, we decided to develop in that direction," adding, "We are targeting memberships in fields like fitness, hotels, and theater."

CEO Lee founded Gamper in 2018. He says he started by focusing on technology rather than the market. His goal was to change financial infrastructure through blockchain technology. He began his work considering the positive impact technology could have on society. However, he also faced negative perceptions. The digital currency market was volatile, and negative views on ‘coins’ along with various unresolved regulations limited the business. He said, "If I had entered this industry looking only at coins, I wouldn’t have taken such a difficult path," adding, "We are thinking about forming social consensus and developing in a positive direction."

CEO Lee Joon-seop is being interviewed by Asia Economy. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

CEO Lee’s idea for the Tokket business model originated from a project he worked on in the past with the Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation, which enabled exchanging remaining balances of local gift certificates. There were many digital assets like gift certificates, but they could only be used within the issuing company’s app and were difficult to transfer. He felt the need for a wallet that could manage everything comprehensively. CEO Lee said, "You can think of it as a wallet where various digital assets, excluding coins, are issued and traded at once," adding, "We enhanced security using blockchain technology."

Gamper now aims to bring services that many people like and seek into Tokket. The goal is to add 10 such cases to Tokket by the second half of this year. As cases accumulate and users gather, they expect large corporations to join as well. CEO Lee said, "We believe that discovering cases in fields like hotels, food, golf, and fitness will be sufficient," adding, "Through the experience of storing various digital assets at once and transferring them transparently, we will change the culture of secondary trading."