임수열 대표 사진
In the '2nd Pitching & Connect' event held at the Seoul Startup Hub Scale-up Center in September, Frientrip, an operator of a platform for exploring and participating in leisure and hobby activities, won the Excellence Prize and received support for business development.
This event was attended by excellent startups recommended by the global accelerator Y&Archer, and 10 venture capitalists on-site screened the 8 companies that participated in the second face-to-face pitching to select a total of 4 excellent startups.
Participating investment companies said, “It was a very meaningful opportunity to assess the growth potential of companies with innovative ideas and technologies.”
“This will be an excellent opportunity for startups at a time when the investment ecosystem needs to expand.”
On the day of receiving the Excellence Prize, we had the opportunity to meet with Lim Soo-yeol, the CEO of Frientrip, to learn more about Frientrip's vision.
‘FRIP’, introduced by ‘Frientrip’, is Korea’s largest host-based hobby leisure platform.
Through Frip, we are creating an environment where anyone can easily and naturally enjoy the hobbies and leisure activities they want.
"Currently, approximately 1.4 million users are experiencing various leisure and hobby activities through Frip, and about 22,000 hosts are earning income through product sales. Our dream is to explore diverse leisure and hobby experiences and witness how each person's life becomes happier through these experiences," said Soo-yeol Lim, CEO of Frientrip.
The current hobby-sharing market size is estimated at approximately 4 trillion won. 'Frientrip' is targeting sports activities, adult hobby education, and travel markets.
"The sports activity market is where Frip has the most competitive edge. We are expanding by creating various sports activity groups targeting the MZ generation who are interested in self-improvement and self-expression through sports trends like #workoutoftheday and #hiking," said the CEO.
“Also, the adult hobby education market targets customers who want to enjoy special activities or hobbies in a deeper and more specialized way. “We are creating retention devices such as various community elements so that people can enjoy the same hobby or various hobbies within our platform on an ongoing basis, rather than simply as a one-time event.”
“For example, going to Bali to do yoga, Siargao Island in the Philippines to surf, or going to England to watch a soccer match. These interests will develop into not only sports, but also gourmet food, cultural visits, and shopping. Now, what you go to do rather than where you go will become an important motivating factor for travel. Based on this interest, Frip began selling SIT travel products overseas, including in Indonesia and the Philippines, in the second half of this year.”
To expand into the global market, Frientrip participated in the '2023 Tourism Global Challenge Y&Bridge,' organized by Y&Bridge earlier this year. They received various support, including IR consulting and the discovery of overseas local partners, to strengthen their investment capabilities.
CEO Lim stated, "Through global expansion, we want people to experience our service as it is in foreign countries. Koreans can use Frip to meet local hosts and enjoy activities abroad, while foreigners can meet Korean hosts and participate in unique activities only available in Korea. So, we will do our best to make the expression 'enjoying hobbies and leisure activities' synonymous with 'Frip.'“