When we spend time outside of our homes, we pay to stay in specific spaces such as cafes, karaoke rooms, and restaurants. This works equally well in the public as well as in the private sphere. In modern society, we need a lot of space, such as offices and conference rooms. Nevertheless, even in Seoul, where land prices are high, it is common to find ‘idle space’ that can be used but is actually idle.
Space Bank (CEO Wonhee Lee) started out as a sharing economy platform that provides Prop Tech services in the form of peer-to-peer transactions to solve problems arising from the imbalance between supply and demand of space. Since then, the AI-based experience zone marketing platform 8Y8 (8uild your 8rand) and the AI RPA supply service RAIID have been launched one after another, expanding the business area by connecting the space and AI fields.
We met with Space Bank CEO Wonhee Lee at the Pangyo Techno Valley Startup Campus and heard his story.
Q1. About Us
CEO Wonhee Lee: Space Bank is a company that provides prop tech services based on AI, big data, and RPA technologies, starting with Space Bank, a space platform that shares idle space. There are currently three platforms in operation: Space Bank, Vibe (8Y8), and Raid (RAIID).
Since the establishment of the company in 2018, we have been steadily walking the path of a platform service provider and O2O service provider, registering various spaces with the goal of securing 5,000 pieces of spatial information by 2021, and providing space curation services by space type based on the registered spaces. We are expanding our services to do this.
Q2. Space Bank’s Differences
CEO Wonhee Lee: Space Bank is a platform where anyone can become a host by registering an individual’s idle space without a separate business registration. The biggest differentiator is the application of AI, big data, and RPA-based tech brand services to prop tech. point.
Additionally, Spacebank’s AI technology has been developed to be applicable to other platforms, making it highly compatible. Collaborating with other companies and technologies comes with many restrictions, but Spacebank values such collaboration and has developed highly compatible technology.
Q3. The opportunity to start a business
CEO Wonhee Lee: While working at LG CNS for 15 years, I was able to feel firsthand the rapidly changing and growing IT industry. I wanted to start a business using the know-how and technology I had accumulated over the years. I have experience building various services or platforms while working at a company. We decided on a platform business.
Q4. Achievements so far
CEO Wonhee Lee: We started our business in 2018. Starting with Space Bank, a space sharing service, the following year, we launched Vibe, an AI-based experience zone marketing platform, in 2020, and were able to receive seed investment last year. We are currently preparing to attract the next investment.
Last February, the ‘2021 AI Project’ implemented by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National IT Industry Promotion Agency through RIDE, an artificial intelligence service brand that provides comprehensive AI data-based business services such as task automation, data analysis, and visualization centered on RPA solutions. Selected as a supplier for the ‘Voucher Support Project’.
Q5. Future Plans
CEO Wonhee Lee: We plan to apply RPA software to robots to create a bot store that anyone can easily use. This type of automated service is a technology that can be easily found in the e-commerce and smart farm fields. Now, we are planning a platform that can be applied to the robot automation process field and made easier for businesses to use.
If we create a platform by applying artificial intelligence automation technology to robots, we plan to make it easier for users to use robots and create value through a new concept platform.
Q6. Overseas expansion strategy
CEO Wonhee Lee: Spacebank is currently a partner of the domestic RPA solution ‘BATEM’ and is fully prepared to expand its RPA-based data business area. The bot store being prepared is being developed based on cloud services, so it is not limited by time and location. This is expected to play a major role in accelerating overseas expansion.
If I start an overseas service, I want to enter Singapore first. Singaporean companies are easier to enter than other countries because their work is standardized and standardized, and because they use Chinese and English a lot, language restrictions are also low.
Q7. Reasons for settling in Pangyo
CEO Wonhee Lee: Just as in relationships between individuals, competition exists between companies. Especially in the same industry, there is bound to be more intense competition, and even from other companies, there is definitely a lot to learn. Pangyo is home to many challenging and young companies, making it easy to contact many companies. In particular, we felt the importance of communication between companies in the AI field and created a community among AI companies called AI Alliance. Through this, we were able to build a close collaborative relationship beyond a simple network. If it were not for Pangyo, I think there would have been many limitations in establishing such relationships with other companies.
Source: Pangyo Techno Valley Official Newsroom
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