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Lee Seung-gun-or “SG” or “SG” or “SG” is a classic start-founding story, recurrent failure, the latest success … and dental treatment … and dental treatment … and dental treatment.
In 2011, a Samsung owner to start Lee Viva Republican was released to a private hospital. “I started as a dentist, as all the other Asian children want their parents to be neurosurgeon or dentists,” he says.
“When I was 29 or 30, I didn’t have dreams. I just wanted to be a famous dentist,” he remembers. But soon worried about helping people with an individual scale. “I quickly realized that I should pay attention to technology to create an effect on the scale.”
It was a difficult start to push his initiative. $ 150 million earned – about $ 105,000, against the new enterprise. “I failed eight times for the first five years,” he says. He opens a few things that “litter ideas” calls: social media, voting application.
One Bloomberg sheet Since a point in 2018, Lee won a total of 20,000 ($ 14) in the bank and begged with the families of employees to allow workers to work with their families.
Then, found a working idea: money transfer service. “Shooting was another stupid idea, but we were insigher enough to do it because there was nothing to lose,” he says. “And we are here.”
About 15 years after the founder in 2011, now it is part of a larger Fintech “Super Application”, is a single platform that combines banking, insurance, stock exchange trade and money transfer services.
South Koreans have an average of five bank accounts and four credit cards, which also means many different financial accounts to juggle. Lee, therefore thinks the innings are so popular because the Koreans are “more times to check finances” as they are.
The Republic of Viva is now one of the most prominent beginnings worth $ 7 billion after a 2022 financing tour of Korea. The company has those who support such as gic, PayPal and Qualcomm enterprises. Lee became one of the newest billionaires of South Korea according to the 2021 estimate Forbes.
The Toss Platform claims that about 30 million users will be about 60% of the entire population of South Korea. Visit the company’s 25 million monthly active user, at least 10 times a day.
“Our monthly active user base is really a little shy from Instagram (Korea),” he said.
Super-app success
Asia, Tencentin Wechat is covered in Asian super apps to include services such as messaging, payments, food delivery, news, games and other services. Financial is a popular service Super apps buddedEven for non-financial companies, with the hand and sea of Singapore, the Goto of Indonesia between Asian platforms, which are Fintech units.
Super programs are participating in a platform, rather than sending users to another company. It allows for apostasy, resource sharing and other support between different services. It also makes it difficult to move on to another platform: if everything you need is in an application, why did you try something else?
Still Super Applications, fans like fans did not leave the west X owner elon muskhoping to transform the social media network to the financial services platform.
Lee’s theory is a better conformity for Asian Internet, which is not a large number of digital infrastructure that supports US start-ups first.
In the United States, a new startup support can rely on a plethor of other companies providing support. In Asia – even in rich countries like South Korea – there are no companies. This is built on a platform or more like throwing Great Tech peers Naver and Cocoa, these services had to build itself.
“When the flag is launched by money transfer, so much user was very popular, so we could grow very fast. We quickly realized that all other vertical sectors were not covered by other players,” he said. “There was a great gap in the Korean market, so we were able to capture these opportunities.”
Steps of the start
The Republic of Viva, when he hit a major stage last year First annual earnings Since the day it was established ten years ago. The company reported that the net profit ($ 15 million) for 2024 compared to 21.3 billion Koreans ($ 15 million), 216.6 billion (152 million dollars). The income also jumped 43% to win 1.96 trillion ($ 1.4 billion).
Lee says the first gain will be directed to increase income, if you have to build a market share. “Unlike other Fintech players, the growth does not really coordinate income. Most of our income does not come from users, but attracts users from our customers, sales or its advertising opportunities.
“It has been a story around to get more business customers for the next three or five years,” he says.
Viva’s profit came from the benefits of the platform, the stock market trade service, securities and strong growth of securities. Lee notes the only service that users pay a fee and make up about 20% of the total income of the platform.
He added that securities, after starting in 2021, grew rapidly due to SuperPP superpp.
“Two million securities have been agreed for two years to get an account,” Lee said. “We achieved it in five days.”
Toss has a higher reputation between young Koreans, 90% of those who have twenty years of twenty years using the platform. Although Lee is not a majority between Toss’s small and older users, a great differences, the fact that new generations are primarily more open to invest in the United States
Now Viva Republican found a profitable business model, is a way to a public debut, which is the next major stage for a start?
Lee says Viva republic plans to go to the public in the near future, but refused to provide special information about the time and place.
According to local media, Viva Republic The US is reviewing the iPOAt the end of last year, it plans to list in South Korea. The company believes that Korean capital markets will not properly assess a Fintech platform like a horse. (Lee refused to share details when pressed.)
Kakaobank and Cocoopay competed in Fintech services, shares lost 70% and 80% of its value since 2021 IPOs.
Market Trust
Korean capital suffers from frequent low assessments – sometimes dubbing “Korean discount“Analysts blame the threat of weak corporate governance between nearby North Korea and the country xaebolsMass conglomerates preferring the economy. Is considered a country Conducting market reforms This will open value as it is successfully persecuted by neighbor Japan.
However, the reforms stopped due to a more relevant political crisis.
In December, then President Yoon Suk Yeol tried to apply the Battle Law. After the public and the opposition’s extensive objections, Yoon took a statement after a few hours later.
MPs are quickly suspended and yoon pitcherIt coordinates political instability for months. It is already beginning to approach the country after the Constitutional Court Yoon’s impeachmentIn order to officially dismiss him – a second president was removed in less than a decade. Korea will hold presidential elections in early June.
The Lee crisis still shows the powerful aspects of South Korea. “I get more confidence in the market,” he says. “Everything was done by the Constitution and the process was peaceful.”
“It is really an attractive point where we need not only economic growth, not only businessmen, but also politicians.
South Korea is fighting frustration among young people, debt, inaccessible housing and more limited social mobility. For many, many have become more speculative assets such as retail trades or crypters in stocks.
East Asian country, as well as a large exporter, as well as the presence of 25% automatic tariffs and 26% of “mutual tariffs” to relieve the tariffs applied by Donald Trump.
When the uncertainty asked the confidence among the individual Koreans, Lee, last year’s growth points in the business advertisements, proved to be still strong in the country’s economy.
And for anyone who wants to enter Fintech in South Korea, he stays in an attractive market.
“Despite the limited population” Lee, says the “Korean market mass”.
Interview Fortune was held in cooperation with Korea.
This story was first displayed Fortune.com
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