[SeoulTech x Dong-A.com Joint Planning] Seoul National University of Science and Technology (hereafter SeoulTech) operates various support programs to aid the growth of startups, including preliminary and early-stage startup packages, maker spaces, and global collaborations. Furthermore, in collaboration with Dong-A.com, it provides global news to assist startups in overseas promotion and expansion, introducing promising deep-tech startups both domestically and internationally.

“Many people think the travel industry is a service, but its essence is distribution. It is an industry that distributes intangible assets such as memories and experiences. However, unlike typical distribution, where there are clear processes due to tangible goods being exchanged, the travel industry relies on trust relationships between travel agencies and local agencies, making digitalization challenging. Eording helps manage travel services like products by building ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) based on the data held by travel agencies.”

Kim Young-jun, CEO of Eording, began server and web development at the age of 21 and has five years of development experience, including working at AhnLab under a military service exception. He initially aspired to become a financial professional in Yeouido, working in insurance sales and was on the verge of joining a foreign bank, but decided to embark on entrepreneurship with the desire to change the world using smartphones and his development experience.


The field he chose for his business direction was travel. He saw potential in managing it digitally, given that it is based on trust relationships, which slows digitalization. Thus, from 2016, he served as the Chief Technology Officer at the travel agency 'Tourbell' for two years, and in 2018, he founded 'Eording,' believing that introducing Software as a Service (SaaS) to the travel industry could solve many problems. Kim Young-jun shared his perspective and direction on travel.

“Eording steps in as a problem solver for small travel agencies struggling with IT adoption”

Eording is an ERP solution company that helps travel agencies manage services online. Kim Young-jun stated, “Eording’s service is to link optimized site production and content management systems for each travel agency with B2C sales channels like Naver and Kakao using ERP. Simply put, it can be called the Cafe24 of the travel industry,” adding, “Our main clientele is small to medium-sized travel agencies. The top 10 travel agencies have their own digital transformation systems, but those below find it challenging to build their own systems. We help them achieve digital transformation with Eording’s solution.”


What is the situation in the field where digitalization has not yet occurred? Kim Young-jun explained, “Many places manage customer information using basic tools like Excel. They organize personal information or passport numbers in Excel and send it to local areas to make hotel reservations. As a result, there are often cases where security is unclear. Eording allows local companies to access Eording’s service to view data, providing everything online from personal information and data management to settlement statements and profit margins.” The goal is to provide systems that match the level of large corporations to small travel agencies that find it difficult to build their own systems.


Unlike large travel agencies that develop their own systems through System Integration (SI), Eording’s service is provided as Software as a Service (SaaS). Kim Young-jun said, “If the introduction scale is large, systems can be developed to suit the company, but it also requires a lot of cost and time. On the other hand, Eording is provided via web and mobile due to its SaaS nature, and there is high demand in Southeast Asia, where infrastructure is lacking. We are currently preparing to enter Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia, and have established a system to trade vouchers by linking with the online tourism system of Vietnam’s Vingroup.”

Eording has linked its operating program with Vietnamese tourism companies. Thanks to this, when airline seats are booked in real-time through the Eording system, the related information can be immediately shared with local Vietnamese companies. Currently, the Southeast Asian tourism industry, including Vietnam, holds large-scale travel fairs and trades travel products in cash. Utilizing the Eording system allows for digital management, making it much clearer and easier to handle. The Southeast Asian Tourism Association is also paying attention to this aspect and is looking to establish relationships.

Selected for TIPS within a year of incorporation, enhancing services with AWS

Eording was not initially focused on travel agency systems. Kim Young-jun stated, “Originally, Eording was an OTA platform that helped foreigners staying in Korea easily manage their airline tickets. We also conducted the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ TIPS project with this. However, after 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world, and the airline ticket market suffered near-catastrophic damage. So, we changed our business direction,” he said. He continued, “While the airline industry was paralyzed, the demand for domestic hotels and travel increased, leading us to shift our business route to digital transformation for travel agencies.” He added, “This year, not only small but also medium-sized travel agencies have started to join, and we are researching ways to provide customized services for companies using AI.”


To meet the needs for customized corporate services, AI data management, and security, Eording uses Amazon Web Services’ cloud. Kim Young-jun explained, “Since our system is SaaS-based, we have used AWS from the beginning. We receive service consulting from AWS and continue to expand our services. Additionally, as a provider of systems, we needed to create overseas expansion partners, which is another reason we chose AWS.” The collaboration with AWS’s global enterprise program is due to the recognition of the potential for overseas expansion as a SaaS-based service.


Kim Young-jun stated, “While using AWS, we naturally received an invitation to participate in the AWS Jungle Program and were selected, receiving support such as R&D funds and service vouchers. In terms of consulting, we receive a variety of support from server setup to utilization methods and solution usage, and we are also offered networking with demo days and overseas related companies,” adding, “Thanks to AWS Cloud, we can not only compete on price but also understand pricing strategies, routes, and conditions in similar environments, which adds to our competitiveness.”

Regarding the Seoul National University of Science and Technology Startup Support Foundation, the host organization, he said, “The SeoulTech Startup Support Foundation goes beyond simple hosting duties to continuously provide networking opportunities and demo days, offering their network and industry-academia cooperation plans as assistance. In terms of administration, they continue to help by providing opinions on business expenditure and review.”

Approaching Series B investment··· Aiming to improve market competitiveness

Kim Young-jun’s next goal is scale-up. He stated, “Although profitability is improving quarterly, factors like rising oil prices and dollar weakening continue to affect the travel industry. We plan to bridge the gap by securing Series B investment in the fourth quarter. We are currently conducting a Proof of Concept (PoC) with a company listed as a travel platform in Japan, and we plan to review our business model and improve profitability through service enhancement and R&D. By April next year, the service is expected to launch in earnest and achieve stable monetization.”

Finally, Kim Young-jun expressed his determination to change the market as a travel and development company. He stated, “Half of Eording’s employees are developers, and most are involved in development planning and design. We also have employees from advertising agencies, service education teams, and travel agencies. Eording’s identity is a travel tech company, and anyone with the will to make travel technical can join us. We will continue to passionately and responsibly achieve digitalization in the market.”

IT Dong-A Nam Si-hyun Reporter (sh@itdonga.com)

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