Building Life Rather Than Just Houses... Samsung C&T's Platform Business Expands Its Reach

[K-Construction, A New Leap] Samsung C&T Construction Division

Digital Smart Home Residential Service App 'Homnik'
Convenient Community Reservation, Payment, and Defect Inspection
Industry-First Launch of Building-Exclusive 'Bind'

If the eco-friendly business is one pillar of Samsung C&T's new ventures, the soft business can be seen as another pillar. The platform business, which was introduced last year, is gaining momentum as it expands its scope from apartments to buildings. Samsung C&T is expanding home network services provided to residents and, this year, launched the building platform business for the first time in the construction industry. The strategy is to secure the platform market, which is still in its early stages in the construction sector, and create a sustainable revenue model.

Main screen of the Homnic 2.0 app launched by Samsung C&T.

The home platform ‘Homenic,’ launched in August last year and first applied to Raemian One Bailey, has become an essential service for residents, being used in over 40,000 households as of the 26th. ‘Homenic’ integrates digital smart home services and residential services into a single application (app). A key feature is its expansion beyond individual units to connect the entire complex, including community facilities. Residents can enjoy not only home IoT but also healthcare services for health consultation and management, home styling using metaverse technology to decorate and purchase products, home care services such as cleaning and disinfection, and food and beverage delivery.

Recently, it evolved into Homenic 2.0. The platform significantly enhanced functions and expanded services, focusing on content highly preferred by residents from the original Homenic. It strengthened many lifestyle-oriented services, including payment functions for management fees and monthly rent, moving beyond basic services like community reservations and visitor vehicle registration.

An apartment care service with after-service (AS) functions was also introduced. When residents report defects, repairs, or replacements through Homenic, Raemian’s dedicated professional engineers visit directly to resolve the issues. The service started last month targeting some apartment complexes in Seocho-gu, Seoul, and plans to expand sequentially to other regions. Additionally, a service for joint purchasing of materials and parts needed for apartment maintenance, proposed directly by residents and nearby commercial districts, was added, along with a membership service that allows purchasing goods at special prices from over 30 verified partners, including Samsung Electronics.

In August, the building-exclusive platform ‘Bynd’ was launched. Based on experience and know-how from constructing multiple buildings, the platform business expanded to commercial building services. Utilizing automation and intelligent technologies, it connects and freely integrates the entire system comprising infrastructure, facilities, and electronic devices within the building.

When the app is applied to existing office buildings, users can access about 100 services, including work environment monitoring and management, smart access, seat or meeting room reservations, and ordering and payment at building shops. Managers can use the app to manage facilities such as fire safety, electricity, and lighting, and monitor and control building energy and internal/external environments in real time. General users can call elevators and check and pay rental statuses. Notably, the platform goes beyond simply gathering individual services to combine them in a user-centric way. Visitors can register parking and enter the building using a QR code sent in advance. Lighting and heating/cooling automatically activate before meetings, along with visitor notifications.

A Samsung C&T official said, "We plan to continuously expand partnerships with leading companies and promising startups in fields such as smart offices and building control to establish a platform ecosystem foundation and continuously expand differentiated services. Following Homenic and Bynd, we will lead spatial innovation by continuously expanding our business scope from physical spaces to digital spaces."