[S Report - K-Finance Finds Solutions to Low Growth]
"Confidence gained through support from KB Kookmin Bank and Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy & Innovation"
"We will present a new communication method that surpasses Instagram"
"Social media services can no longer survive as 'domestic-only'."
Kim Seong-san, CEO of PIXEL and a former social media service planner in Korea, one day faced a wall of reality. It was a time when platforms that had been drawing a hot response were faltering, pushed aside by global big tech. He made a decision. He would create a social media service that could succeed on the global stage, even in Korea and with a small team.
PIXEL, the company he founded, has now launched 12 apps on various topics such as K-POP, Korean language, and religion, and has recorded 40,000 monthly active users (MAU) from over 100 countries.
CEO Kim said, "I want PIXEL to become a new communication method that resolves all barriers of language, region, etc.," and "We will leap forward as a global social service that surpasses Instagram and TikTok."
PIXEL's starting point began with CEO Kim's awareness of the problem. Before founding the company, he experienced the industry trends up close while planning social services at Naver, Kakao, and others. Services that were drawing a growth curve began to stagnate at some point, and the trend of being pushed aside by global platforms became clear.
The cause was in connectivity. While Instagram, TikTok, and others connected the whole world, domestic services faltered, unable to overcome language and cultural barriers. CEO Kim felt a sense of crisis. And so, he decided to create a social service with the global stage in mind from the very beginning, not just the domestic market.
CEO Kim, now in his second year of business, said, "So far, there hasn't been a moment where I felt it was overwhelmingly difficult." He added, "There were unfamiliar and embarrassing moments as a first-time founder, but I feel a sense of accomplishment by solving them with my colleagues," and "I spend every day as if I'm in a game where the rewards get bigger as you clear difficult missions."
The reward was given as if a game character was 'leveling up'. PIXEL was recently selected as a 'KB Unicorn Club' company, a support program for promising startups discovered and nurtured by KB Kookmin Bank and the Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy & Innovation.
CEO Kim shared his feelings, saying, "I wonder if this is what an idol trainee feels like when they finally get to stand on stage." He revealed, "It might seem reckless for a small number of people in Korea to create a global social service, but it was a moment when I gained the belief that the PIXEL team could do it."
PIXEL is focusing on communication based on media using videos and images, while at the same time advancing the function of naturally translating multilingual messages using AI technology.
CEO Kim said, "We are developing it so that people who have gathered with common interests such as K-pop and Korean can interact more naturally through the medium of videos and images," and "In the future, we will focus on enriching communication between users by utilizing AI technology."
Although PIXEL is still in the early stages of growth, CEO Kim is paying attention to 'infinite scalability'. He is broadening his horizons by developing services not only for online communication with global users but also for foreigners visiting Korea.
He said, "We plan to collaborate in various ways so that PIXEL's community can grow in more diverse ways," and "I want to lead the trend of global transformation with those who have brilliant ideas and visions." He also made a plan to increase the MAU to 500,000 this year.
CEO Kim revealed that his dream is to grow PIXEL into a global representative social media platform operator that stands shoulder to shoulder with 'Meta', which operates Facebook and Instagram.
He emphasized, "We have created more than 10 global community services with a small number of people, and our goal is to release 100 valuable communities to the world in the future."
He continued, "We will present a new communication method that creates new relationships and allows people to interact with each other, especially by resolving existing barriers such as language, region, and disability."
Read Original Article"Confidence gained through support from KB Kookmin Bank and Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy & Innovation"
"We will present a new communication method that surpasses Instagram"
"Social media services can no longer survive as 'domestic-only'."
Kim Seong-san, CEO of PIXEL and a former social media service planner in Korea, one day faced a wall of reality. It was a time when platforms that had been drawing a hot response were faltering, pushed aside by global big tech. He made a decision. He would create a social media service that could succeed on the global stage, even in Korea and with a small team.
PIXEL, the company he founded, has now launched 12 apps on various topics such as K-POP, Korean language, and religion, and has recorded 40,000 monthly active users (MAU) from over 100 countries.
CEO Kim said, "I want PIXEL to become a new communication method that resolves all barriers of language, region, etc.," and "We will leap forward as a global social service that surpasses Instagram and TikTok."
PIXEL's starting point began with CEO Kim's awareness of the problem. Before founding the company, he experienced the industry trends up close while planning social services at Naver, Kakao, and others. Services that were drawing a growth curve began to stagnate at some point, and the trend of being pushed aside by global platforms became clear.
The cause was in connectivity. While Instagram, TikTok, and others connected the whole world, domestic services faltered, unable to overcome language and cultural barriers. CEO Kim felt a sense of crisis. And so, he decided to create a social service with the global stage in mind from the very beginning, not just the domestic market.
CEO Kim, now in his second year of business, said, "So far, there hasn't been a moment where I felt it was overwhelmingly difficult." He added, "There were unfamiliar and embarrassing moments as a first-time founder, but I feel a sense of accomplishment by solving them with my colleagues," and "I spend every day as if I'm in a game where the rewards get bigger as you clear difficult missions."
The reward was given as if a game character was 'leveling up'. PIXEL was recently selected as a 'KB Unicorn Club' company, a support program for promising startups discovered and nurtured by KB Kookmin Bank and the Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy & Innovation.
CEO Kim shared his feelings, saying, "I wonder if this is what an idol trainee feels like when they finally get to stand on stage." He revealed, "It might seem reckless for a small number of people in Korea to create a global social service, but it was a moment when I gained the belief that the PIXEL team could do it."
PIXEL is focusing on communication based on media using videos and images, while at the same time advancing the function of naturally translating multilingual messages using AI technology.
CEO Kim said, "We are developing it so that people who have gathered with common interests such as K-pop and Korean can interact more naturally through the medium of videos and images," and "In the future, we will focus on enriching communication between users by utilizing AI technology."
Although PIXEL is still in the early stages of growth, CEO Kim is paying attention to 'infinite scalability'. He is broadening his horizons by developing services not only for online communication with global users but also for foreigners visiting Korea.
He said, "We plan to collaborate in various ways so that PIXEL's community can grow in more diverse ways," and "I want to lead the trend of global transformation with those who have brilliant ideas and visions." He also made a plan to increase the MAU to 500,000 this year.
CEO Kim revealed that his dream is to grow PIXEL into a global representative social media platform operator that stands shoulder to shoulder with 'Meta', which operates Facebook and Instagram.
He emphasized, "We have created more than 10 global community services with a small number of people, and our goal is to release 100 valuable communities to the world in the future."
He continued, "We will present a new communication method that creates new relationships and allows people to interact with each other, especially by resolving existing barriers such as language, region, and disability."
