[NE Coffee Chat] Companion Life: "Solving All Your Pet Travel Concerns at Once"

From Accommodation, Leisure, and Transportation Bookings to Reviews
Diversifying Revenue Models Across B2C, B2B, and B2G
"Introducing Insurance and Membership-Based Subscription Services"

Hyemi Lee, CEO of Companion Life, is a pet owner living with two 15-year-old Welsh Corgis. She once worked as a developer for the mobile delivery platform Baemin, but after resigning, she traveled with her dogs and experienced various inconveniences. There was a severe lack of information on accommodations and travel packages that allowed pets, and even when there were preferred destinations and transportation options, she had to call each place individually to check if they were actually pet-friendly. All procedures were fragmented. She said, "I decided that I had to solve this problem myself," and rolled up her sleeves. In 2019, the pet travel platform Companion Life was born as a result.

As a developer with perspectives from both consumers and providers, she is dedicated to enhancing the platform’s user-friendliness. From the very start of her interview with The Asia Business Daily on March 16, Lee showed the soon-to-be-updated application interface and explained, "We have improved the service structure so that even elderly pet owners can easily use it." Her sincerity paid off. Despite the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic shortly after its founding, Companion Life grew rapidly by word of mouth. As of last month, the platform had secured 200,000 users and 860,000 cumulative downloads, successfully establishing itself in the market.

Hyemi Lee, CEO of Banryeosaenghwal. Banryeosaenghwal

Lee described Companion Life as "a one-stop travel platform that brings together everything from accommodation, leisure, and transportation bookings to information on nearby tourist spots, restaurants, and reviews from pet owners." Currently, the platform features 30,000 businesses across 12 categories, including pet-friendly accommodations, restaurants, and tourist spots nationwide. Platform users can register their dogs’ information, and based on their size, see not only the locations they can visit but also related video content.

Companion Life has diversified its revenue model. Centered on a B2C (business-to-consumer) model based on reservation commissions, it also collaborates with the Korea Tourism Organization and local governments to develop tourism products in a B2G (business-to-government) model, as well as B2B (business-to-business) advertising and experience-based models. In particular, their experimental travel packages are noteworthy. For example, in the B2G sector, they have launched seasonal packages such as temple tours with dogs or mudflat experiences. The company has even boldly introduced ultra-premium private jet packages exclusively for dogs. By also offering PB (private brand) products linked with these travel packages, they are building the platform’s self-sufficiency.

A woman is digging clams in the mudflat with her pet dog. Companion Life

Lee explained, "The essence of these travel products is to increase customer engagement." The strategy is to nurture beginner pet owners into "high-engagement customers" who are willing to invest millions of won in living with their pets. The plan is to first attract low-engagement customers to the platform and then gradually propose premium tours and customized products to expand the business. Lee added, "Going forward, we plan to introduce insurance services and launch a membership-based subscription model to establish a stable and recurring revenue structure."

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