Several South Korean unicorns, or private companies valued at over 1 trillion won ($750 million), reported their first annual operating profit in 2024, defying a sluggish investment environment.
Among them are Viva Republica, the operator of financial app Toss; Danggeun Market, which runs a popular online second-hand marketplace; and Bucketplace, known for its home furnishing and interior design platform Ohouse.
South Korean unicorns have long prioritized growth over profit, relying on investor funding. However, these companies managed to turn a profit despite an economic downturn and a slowdown in venture capital investment.
“The domestic platform startup sector is now finding ways to generate revenue from its established user base,” a startup industry official said. “This could inject momentum into a startup ecosystem weakened by declining investments.”
On March 31, Bucketplace reported 287.9 billion won ($216 million) in revenue for 2024, up 22.3% from the previous year, with an operating profit of 570 million won—its first profit since its founding in 2014.
Viva Republica posted revenue of 1.95 trillion won, a 42.7% increase year-on-year, with an operating profit of 90.7 billion won, reversing a 206.5 billion won loss in 2023.
Danggeun Market saw a 48.2% rise in revenue and achieved an operating profit of 2.5 billion won, also for the first time.
A key to their profitability: expanding into adjacent businesses using their vast user bases. Monthly active users range from 10 million for Ohouse to 24.8 million for Toss.
Toss, which began as a money transfer service, has aggressively expanded over the past decade into loan brokerage, payments, securities, and insurance. In May 2024, it launched Toss Income, a tax refund and accounting service, further boosting profitability.
“Toss Income alone posted an annual operating profit of 9.6 billion won,” a Toss spokesperson said. “Our strategy of integrating financial services within a single app has created strong synergies among our subsidiaries.”
Bucketplace has expanded beyond online furniture sales to include an interior design brokerage service, driving revenue growth. “Transaction volume for interior design services via Ohouse has exceeded 1 trillion won in total, doubling in 2024 from the previous year,” a company spokesperson said.
Danggeun Market has strengthened its local community data through second-hand transactions and leveraged it to grow its hyperlocal advertising business. Its targeted ad service, launched in 2023, allows businesses to reach users within a 300m to 1.5km radius.
“Advertising was the key driver of our earnings improvement,” a company official said. “Compared to 2023, the number of advertisers grew 37%, while ad placements increased 52%, leading to a 48% rise in ad revenue.”
Having turned profitable in the domestic market, these unicorns are now seeking new growth drivers, with global expansion as a key strategy.
At a recent press event marking Toss’ 10th anniversary, Viva Republica CEO Lee Seung-gun announced plans for international expansion. “Within five years, we aim for more than half of Toss’ users to be from outside South Korea,” he said.
Danggeun Market’s North American expansion is led by co-founder and CEO Kim Yong-hyun, known internationally as Gary Kim. Now based in Canada, he oversees Karrot, the company’s second-hand marketplace, which had two million registered users there as of February.
Ohouse has been expanding internationally since 2022, launching services in Japan, Indonesia, and the United States.
“To sustain growth, companies must secure new revenue sources while they still have momentum, much like Yanolja, which turned a profit in 2021 by expanding into cloud-based hospitality software,” an industry expert said.
Yanolja, which disclosed its 2024 financial results on March 31, reported revenue of 924.5 billion won, up 20.6% year-on-year, with operating profit surging nearly 29 times to 49.2 billion won.
