IEN Selected as Step-Up Challenge Company by Korea Credit Guarantee Fund... Receives 1 Billion KRW Support

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Choi] IEN, which operates the rental fraud prevention application 'Imcha-in' to protect tenants' rights, announced on the 16th that it has been selected for the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund's innovative startup growth support program, 'Step-up Challenge Company.' Accordingly, it will receive financial support worth 1 billion KRW over three years.

The Step-up Challenge Company is a representative startup support system of the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund that closely nurtures new business-leading companies with excellent business competitiveness and expected future growth. It supports promising startups within five years of establishment that are in the early commercialization or full growth stage with up to 2 billion KRW for product production (service launch) and marketing expenses.

Proptech (property technology) startup IEN was recognized for the business model of its self-developed real estate application 'Imcha-in' and was selected as a Step-up Challenge Company by the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund.

The 'Tenant Protector App' Imcha-in provides tenants with various information and legal knowledge necessary throughout the rental life, such as contract drafting, moving in, when the occupied house goes to auction, and moving out, free of charge to prevent real estate damages like rental fraud and deposit non-return. In particular, it features a function that compares the sale and rental prices of all households in the same building over recent years to inform whether the upcoming residence has the risk of being a "Kkangtong Jeonse" (underwater lease).

Kang Woo-jin, CEO of IEN, said, "We planned a real estate app for tenants to solve problems caused by information asymmetry between landlords and tenants in the real estate market," adding, "We will further develop the service to become an essential device for tenants' safe living environments."

Meanwhile, IEN completed an initial investment of 500 million KRW this month and is preparing for Series A investment. As part of business diversification in the first half of next year, it plans to launch 'Junggae-in' (Broker-in).

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