"Leaving LG Uplus? No, I started a business at LG Uplus"

Born in 1996, Kim Soyeon, CEO of Eollong and 3rd-year employee at a major corporation
Returns to the company within 2 years if desired, even after failure
"Our goal is an Airbnb for companion families," expecting synergy with LG Uplus pet business

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] We have entered an era where 15 million people own pets. One in four Koreans lives with a pet. According to the '2021 Pet Report' released by KB Financial Group, 88.9% of these people accept their pets as family members and as individual beings. For them, pets are more than just family. This is why pet owners do not hesitate to spend money on their "precious little ones."

According to a report by the Korea Rural Economic Institute, the domestic pet market size is expected to reach 4.1 trillion won this year and grow to about 6 trillion won by 2027. Until now, the pet market has grown mainly in the supplies and medical sectors. Recently, the travel sector has been rapidly expanding as more people want to enjoy leisure time with their pets.

"I started this business because I believe family should go on vacation together"

"There is no space where pet families can comfortably enjoy holidays." This was the background for CEO Kim So-yeon (born 1996, pictured) founding the pet family outing reservation platform 'Along.' Pet dog playgrounds, which require quite a bit of money, were cramped and uncomfortable, making it disappointing to enjoy holidays. Wouldn't it be nice if there was a place that introduced locations where families could go on vacation to quiet places, just like going on a trip with family?

After joining LG Uplus in the first half of 2020 and being assigned to the new business team, Kim was busy learning the ropes when an opportunity came. An 'LG Uplus internal venture announcement' was posted, and encouraged by a senior, she applied together with her colleague Kim Da-in, Along’s Chief Operating Officer (COO). LG Uplus evaluates synergy with existing businesses and market potential through a panel of internal and external experts. The combination of 'pet' and 'platform' received high marks, and they were selected as the final outstanding team.

Kim said, "I had been steadily studying entrepreneurship during college, and after joining the company, I got the chance to realize it concretely," adding, "My goal is to create an 'Airbnb' for pet families." Support from the company continued through the founding of Along. After being selected as an internal venture, Kim stepped away from her main job and focused for six months on service development and market validation in a separate space. The company name was chosen as 'Along,' meaning being together with pets. The main business item is 'Madang Space,' a space-sharing platform that rents out 'madang' (yards) where people can relax with their pets.

There were challenges. Kim explained, "At first, we planned a platform recommending restaurants and cafes where dogs could accompany their owners, but during business model validation, we hit a wall of low profitability," and added, "After consulting with external accelerators, we turned our attention to space rental." She continued, "One month before the final evaluation, we launched a test service. After renting spaces with madang and creating a reservation site with advertisements, all reservations were fully booked within less than a week." After passing the final evaluation, the Along team officially launched the web service in April.

Kim said, "We are conducting business with concepts that pet owners and their pets can enjoy together, such as fire-watching parties, camping, and travel," and added, "Monthly sales, which were 5 million won earlier this year, surpassed 40 million won last month." Along’s sales target for this year is 300 million won. Kim said, "We will start a smartphone app service in mid-month," and added, "Once the business becomes more concrete, we expect to create synergy by cooperating with LG Uplus’s 'pet business.'"

LG Uplus’s 'internal venture' program, which gave Kim the opportunity to start her business, was introduced in 2019. Riding on the success of the first internal venture, the quick delivery brokerage service 'Diver,' LG Uplus has selected internal venture teams twice a year since 2020. So far, four teams have spun off, raising a total investment of about 6 billion won. As an institution to find innovative business ideas, the program attracts strong interest and enthusiasm from MZ generation employees who are sensitive to trends. The company supports employees who want to return to headquarters within two years after spinning off.

Kim said, "If I fail, I have the chance to return to LG Uplus, but I am working hard with my employees to successfully settle the business," and added, "We will establish ourselves as Korea’s leading pet travel platform."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.