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“Now Danggeun Market is Dropping the ‘Market’ from its name. In addition to secondhand transactions, Danggeun provides various functions closely related to local life such as advertisements and regular customer management for local businesses, job searching for part-time workers, organizing local gatherings and lectures. Several features that allow discovering the neighborhood anew have been expanded, and these services can no longer be explained solely by the name ‘Market.’”
Hwang Do-yeon (44), the CEO, explained why the service name will be changed to “Danggeun” starting from the 28th, during a meeting at the Danggeun Market headquarters in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on the 23rd. Founded in 2015, Danggeun grew rapidly as a secondhand trading app with the abbreviation of the meaning “Your Nearby Neighborhood,” as well as carrot, and is recognized as a domestic representative unicorn with a corporate value of over ￦3 trillion($1=￦1321). CEO Hwang said, “Danggeun has accumulated 35 million users and 18 million monthly users, making it undoubtedly a national app,” and stated, “Now we plan to introduce various neighborhood-based services beyond secondhand transactions.” This signifies breaking free from the framework of being just a secondhand trading platform.
The local business advertising feature that started in 2021 marked its first step. CEO Hwang stated, “While there are many portals and platforms for promoting famous restaurants or franchises, the only method available for promoting local eateries, beauty salons, and gyms in each one of our own specific neighborhood was through flyers.” He added, “Danggeun’s advertising feature uniquely allows small business owners to target local residents who could become regular customers for their online advertising.” Danggeun has also added features such as customer management with chat functionality for small businesses and reservation capabilities for local shops like hair salons and nail studios. Ads can also be precisely targeted to Danggeun users within a 300-meter to 1.5-kilometer radius. He mentioned, “Word of mouth has caused the number of businesses using Danggeun advertising to exceed 800,000, and the advertising revenue has grown twice as much compared to 2021. We expect the growth to be more than double this year as well.”
The number of customers using Danggeun not only for second-hand transactions, but also for recruitment of local community gatherings and lectures, professional recommendations, and part-time job postings has also increased. CEO Hwang stated, “Nowadays, the local community communication is so active that people even post on Danggeun first when they lose their pets.” He added, “The feature for finding part-time jobs within 700 meters has also become a platform for job-seeking and job-offering for local businesses, thanks to shop owners urgently seeking waitstaff or cleaning staff.” Additionally, registered fitness facilities such as taekwondo and Pilates academies have increased by about 90 percent compared to last year.
Danggeun allows users to engage in used goods trading and services only within two neighborhoods, where they reside or work. “Despite entering the market later compared to various other used goods trading platforms that emerged in the mid-2000s, Danggeun’s success is attributed to its foundation of trust within local communities and nearby individuals,” according to CEO Hwang. He explained, “Even though the era has become online-centric, trust, reliance, and expectations within our local neighborhoods remain unchanged. Strengthening features such as reviews and evaluations of trading partners and promoting local face-to-face transactions significantly reduced instances of fraud, contributing to Danggeun’s success.”
Danggeun is also exploring international expansion, including North America and Japan. In Japan, it serves Tokyo’s Shinjuku area, while in North America, it operates in major cities like New York, Toronto, and Vancouver. Co-founder Kim Yong-hyun is leading the North American expansion, having crossed over to Canada last year. Hwang stated, “Although distances between neighbors are much greater in North America, the same trust and kindness towards neighbors exist, just like in Korea.” He added, “There is a good chance of success if we tailor our services to fit the cultural characteristics of overseas markets.”
Hwang, the CEO, graduated from the Department of Computer Science at Seoul National University and began his career in the consulting industry before joining Kakao as one of its early members in 2011. He was responsible for planning and developing various additional features such as “Kakao gifting” and “KakaoPay” for KakaoTalk, which initially started as a simple messenger service. In 2021, he joined Danggeun and took on the role of CEO. He stated, “As IT platforms grow larger, small local businesses can become marginalized, and connections between neighbors can weaken. Danggeun aims to be a platform that connects businesses with other businesses and neighbors with neighbors, allowing you to rediscover your neighborhood.”
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