박영훈, 고지현(오른쪽) '더키트' 공동창업자

While the Korean Wave is gaining popularity around the world, there are startups that are taking the lead in promoting Korea's unique culture, such as K-food and K-content.

The main character is ‘The Kit’, which is distributing canned kimchi for global MZ in the North American market by launching the K-food brand ‘Piki Wiki’ in 2021.

Pikiwiki is expanding not only to online distribution such as Amazon, but also to offline big box retail distribution such as duty-free stores and Walmart.

We met with CEO Ko Ji-hyeon, one of the co-founders of The Kit, to hear about the development process and future goals.

Q. Please introduce 'The Kit.'

-The Kit is a global creative group established in 2017. Starting from digital content, we are expanding our business area in various ways that can expand creativity from online to offline experiences.

Q. What services do you offer?

- We have signed exclusive contracts with top-tier creators and influencers with an average of over 6 million global subscribers, and are offering IP development and content investment based on management optimized for the creator economy. Representative members include 6 million YouTube creator Korean Englishman, model and fashion influencer Irene, 7 million beauty TikToker Jooshica, and chef and food creator Gabiekook. We are also distributing canned kimchi ‘Piki Wiki’ for global MZ in the North American market. Based on our experience in promoting the U.S. business of the canned kimchi brand ‘Pikiwiki’, we are planning and developing products tailored to the global local market.

Q. What prompted you to start 'The Kit'?

- Despite the growing interest in K-Culture in the global market, successful overseas expansion for domestic companies often requires a significant investment. I realized that there was a lack of teams with the capacity to simultaneously understand and execute the market professionally when trying to enter local markets from Korea. Based on my experience and know-how in the digital media industry, I decided to turn my focus to entrepreneurship in 2017, with the goal of establishing a gateway to enter global markets in the trendiest way.

Q. What sets 'The Kit' apart from the competition?

-We have experience and know-how in upward growth for more than 10 years, including as a Korean Englishman, and have business development capabilities for sustainable growth. Additionally, as a content-centered agency specializing in top-tier creators, we also have expertise in content-based storytelling. Above all, we have an international sensibility to nurture Korea's first global creators and plan and develop content in accordance with the digital media environment that blurs boundaries between languages and countries.

Q. What are your future plans?

'The Kit' aims to promote the influence of creators expanding globally by utilizing "small-scale concentrated management." We pursue "sustainable growth" and "global expansion" based on content. We communicate with viewers worldwide through content with strong storytelling in various cities such as Seoul, London, and New York where our creators are active. We partner with companies in Korea aiming to expand abroad, domestic companies and government agencies targeting inbound tourists, and promoting localized content and marketing. Our goal is to develop global IP as the most powerful gateway connecting the Korean and global markets. To achieve this, we participated in the '2023 Tourism Global Challenge Y&Bridge,' organized by Y&Anchor this year, receiving various support such as IR consulting and the discovery of local partners to strengthen our investment capabilities.