[Senior Trend] Various Attempts by Senior Startups

In the senior business sector, young companies and startups are putting unique ideas into action. Until now, senior consumers have been the largest demographic group, but they were known to be less responsive due to their high brand loyalty. Perhaps because of this, successful items related to senior consumers have mostly been products developed by large corporations, such as incontinence pads and health supplements, or trot music projects by major broadcasting companies. In other words, these ventures had the advantage of existing public recognition or the foundation of established channels and capital. Those newly entering the senior business industry predicted that significant changes might only occur around 2030, when the current median age of 46 reaches their 50s, marking a turning point. However, recent trends are changing. Whether it is because the hearts of the ‘senior’ generation have shifted or because media mentions of ‘seniors’ have increased, the number of startups and services targeting this group is noticeably growing and achieving results.

First, the fashion sector is leading the way. ‘Queenit,’ a fashion platform specializing in women in their 40s and 50s, has accumulated investments totaling 70 billion KRW. It has grown so much that it can advertise with a famous actress as its face, branding itself as a “fashion app for stylish older sisters.” Instead of creating new brands, it hosts over 1,500 women’s fashion brands favored by the 40s and 50s generation, ranging from department store brands to designer labels, all within the app. Combining familiarity and convenience, the app has surpassed 5.5 million downloads. There is also a fashion platform for senior men. ‘Bind’ focuses on the emergence of “stylish men” who express their tastes through fashion, catering to the needs of those in their 40s to 60s. It is rapidly growing after winning the D-Day competition hosted by D.CAMP (Bank권청년창업재단). Another 40s and 50s fashion platform operated by KakaoStyle is ‘Posty,’ which focuses on golf and luxury goods, transferring the familiar home shopping experience to mobile live commerce. It showcases patterns that combine familiar and fresh elements.

Local travel and experience-related services are also popular, as seniors who were once the main customers of package tours are changing. One example is ‘Senior Travel University,’ which was once affiliated with Yanolja but is now independent. The ‘Dreaming Traveler’ course, run by CEO Jeong Sang-geun, who has traveled the world on a budget of 800,000 KRW, is tailored for active seniors. Participants first engage in educational courses about travel culture, plan their trips, and then travel with peers. There is also a travel community for women in their 40s and 50s called ‘How to Play.’ Middle-aged flower men and women, who have devoted themselves to work but are unsure how to rest and enjoy life, are encouraged to travel together like sisters, finding exciting ways to have fun. Meanwhile, ‘Pathfinder,’ meaning those who find the way, offers a path for seniors to explore life and work transitions after retirement through regional living that starts like travel. Additionally, ‘Juin,’ which operates a sustainable travel platform based in Jochon, Buyeo, and ‘Puzzle Lab,’ which organizes experiential travel proposing authentic living for seniors in Gongju, expand the choices available to seniors.

Platforms for seniors’ leisure and hobbies are also diversifying. ‘Siso (Because Seniors are Precious)’ is a pioneer in this field, planning cultural, leisure, and hobby-related content and running classes for those in their 50s and 60s, even opening and operating an offline store. ‘Life Lab,’ which used to provide home cleaning services, joined this trend by launching ‘Our Class,’ a hobby class for seniors. It suggests classes tailored to individual preferences based on local information and interests and encourages participation through a friend-sharing feature. There is also a platform called ‘Oi (Stories of People in Their 50s),’ which allows seniors to create hobby groups themselves through personalized content recommendations based on user behavior data. A dating app for seniors has also emerged. ‘Sinol’ is a social community for those in their 50s and 70s that supports meetings with neighborhood friends based on user location. It ensures safety through facial recognition systems and 24-hour monitoring to exclude malicious users.

While all the above services aim to provide new playgrounds for learning, enjoying, and consuming, there are also work-related services. These are divided into two types: helping seniors continue their experience and expertise, and assisting them in career transitions. ‘ProConnect,’ operated by the author, connects seniors on an on-demand basis to industry- and country-specific points of need, offering advisory or consulting roles based on their careers. ‘Saramin,’ a job matching service, runs ‘Imojob,’ a specialized service for middle-aged and older adults. For seniors who want to keep busy with small tasks rather than leveraging expertise, there is ‘Halbaedal,’ a delivery service using senior couriers operated by Silverlining, and similarly, ‘Ongoing,’ where veteran senior delivery workers provide regular delivery services.

Additionally, startups offer senior-specific exercise programs like ‘Geun(ryeok) Tech’ supported by ‘NoriCare,’ care robots such as ‘Mr. Mind’ and ‘Hyodol’ that communicate tailored to the elderly, and dozens of caregiver matching services.

Since the emergence of economically empowered seniors, the previously immovable senior market landscape is shaking. The senior generation wants to freely express their individuality, discover their tastes, explore life, and be active. Accordingly, startups targeting seniors will become increasingly segmented, and the growth of related businesses is anticipated.

Lee Boram, CEO of Third Age

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