[Ewha Womans University Start-up Support Organization Startups 2025] ‘ONGLEAM’, a company that helps brands access cross-border VOC more easily

Bin Xu, CEO of ONGLEAM

Its goal is to solve the challenges that domestic brands face when expanding overseas
Providing analysis of both domestic and overseas competitors

ONGLEAM is a company driven by the mission to solve the difficulties that domestic brands face when expanding overseas. It monitors customer reviews and brand awareness across both domestic and international sales channels, which helps brands more easily gather cross-border Voice of Customer (VOC) data. CEO Bin Xu (35), originally from China, founded the company in April 2025.

“The goal of ONGLEAM is to address the challenges faced by domestic brands during their overseas expansion. Although many brands are now exporting thanks to K-content, interviews revealed that they rely heavily on existing agencies for local customer feedback. ONGLEAM provides a solution that monitors customer reviews and brand awareness across domestic and international sales channels, helping brands more easily access cross-border VOC.”

Unlike other VOC services, Ongleam limits its customer scope to ‘beauty brands expanding overseas’, striving to offer more comprehensive information about this specific industry. Xu said, “I realized that existing trend analysis and VOC often focus on macro-level data analysis,” adding, “Beauty industry employees spend most of their time searching for and monitoring brand-related keywords, tracking competitors’ events, and monitoring. ONGLEAM believes that the beauty industry has a global competitive advantage that extends beyond K-Beauty. Therefore, we provide analysis of not only domestic competitors but also competitors in target countries.”

ONGLEAM is pioneering new markets with the goal of ‘satisfying even one customer’. The company starts by solving its customers’ problems one by one, working like internal employees of the brand to create the data they need. Considering the nature of B2B sales, ONGLEAM actively participates in beauty brand networks and gatherings of marketers to understand the challenges faced by industry professionals. Xu emphasized, “If we cannot satisfy even one customer, our service has no value. Therefore, we prioritize long-term market development.”

What made CEO Xu decide to start a new company? “I have always admired people doing business in Korea. I believe that the few brands or startups that survive the fierce competition have a significant competitive advantage overseas. Yet, it’s deeply regrettable that language and cultural barriers confine them to the domestic market. ONGLEAM serving as a bridgehead for these companies’ overseas expansion is the team’s ‘grit’.”

After starting his business, Xu said, “Ironically, the most rewarding part has been making quick ‘pivot’ decisions. We pivoted significantly twice before arriving at our current product. The team’s current decision-making process, which involves quickly performing verification and decisively pivoting when needed, is the most rewarding aspect.”

Regarding future plans, Xu stated, “Our goal is short-term survival rather than grand, macro-level objectives,” expressing his aspiration: “We want to become a company with strong foundational resilience that can sustain itself.”

Founded: April 2025
Main business: monitoring customer reviews and brand awareness across domestic and international sales channels
Achievements: Selected for the Ewha Womans University Campus Town Program; Selected for the Early-Stage Startup Package Leading to Private Investment; Secured youth-specific startup funding from the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency

reporter jinho lee
jinho2323@hankyung.com