Kihun Lee, CEO of Startview (Unicorn incubation company at DDM Youth Startup Center)
Automatically provides short-form content production guidelines and customized planning proposals for each influencer
Simplifies the entire process from influencer matching and content creation to performance analysis
Its flagship product is ‘Startview,’ a platform that automates the entire collaboration process between advertisers and influencers. Advertisers simply enter the product name, brief product information, and the sales page URL, and the AI automatically matches them with the most suitable influencers while providing short-form content production guidelines and customized planning proposals for each influencer. Through this, advertisers can execute efficient short-form marketing with limited staff and budget, while influencers can clearly understand advertisers’ requirements and create performance-driven short-form content.
Startview’s first competitive advantage lies in its AI automation, which simplifies the entire process from short-form content planning and influencer matching to content creation and performance analysis. Companies lacking marketing experience or with limited personnel can also easily carry out short-form marketing.
The second is its cost-effective pricing structure. Traditional agencies and platforms imposed high costs on advertisers due to per-project fees and intermediary margins. In contrast, Startview employs a subscription-based model, enabling advertisers to partner with multiple influencers and produce content consistently and efficiently. This also benefits influencers by providing them with increased opportunities for collaboration.
The third is transparency in performance measurement. Conventional short-form marketing relied on simple metrics, such as views, likes, and comments, which make it difficult to evaluate effectiveness accurately. Startview utilizes affiliate link–based data to track traffic and sales conversions for each piece of content. This enables true performance marketing that goes beyond mere exposure to actual sales contribution, making it the most distinctive differentiator of Startview.
Startview is currently in its PoC (Proof of Concept) phase, producing and publishing short-form meme content primarily through its officially owned media channels to naturally attract both client companies and influencers. At the same time, through marketing-related mentoring and lectures, Startview has met in person with business owners who are interested in short-form marketing but find it difficult to implement, offering them a one-month free trial opportunity.
“Through this process, many business owners have experienced the effectiveness of our service, leading to a high rate of paid conversions. Since the official launch in October, we have been actively expanding our market presence by utilizing our proprietary solution to carry out short-form–based performance marketing and brand campaigns.”
What led CEO Lee to start the company? “For 10 years, I worked in both advertising agencies and in-house marketing teams, gaining experience in a wide range of marketing practices. However, I witnessed firsthand how traditional paid media advertising ultimately depended on budget size, resulting in many e-commerce sellers with limited advertising funds struggling to grow. While overseeing marketing for five years at my previous company, a beauty brand, I personally led a short-form marketing campaign using influencers that transformed declining sales into growth, reaching 30 billion KRW. This experience convinced me that if more small brands could access short-form marketing, they too could achieve significant growth — and that belief motivated me to start my own company.”
In the early stages, the startup capital was secured through personal funds, government support programs, and policy loans, such as the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency’s Youth Startup Loan. Currently, the company is enrolled in the K-Unicorn Academy, where it is advancing its business model while conducting PoC projects with 20 companies. It has achieved cumulative sales of 200 million KRW, successfully completing its initial business validation phase. In the second half of this year, the company plans to secure seed investment to further advance its AI technology. In 2026, the company aims to be selected for the TIPS program to establish a foundation for global expansion and growth.
Since founding the company, CEO Lee said, “Through Startview, influencers gain new sources of income and growth opportunities, while advertisers achieve tangible marketing results at reasonable costs. I find great fulfillment in building this mutually beneficial ecosystem.”
“In fact, there was a case where a company that previously couldn’t attempt online marketing due to a limited budget and lack of marketing staff saw its conversion performance increase more than tenfold in a short period after collaborating with influencers through Startview. At the same time, the influencers who participated in the campaign were also able to generate additional income through performance-based compensation. When I see both the advertiser’s sales growth and the influencer’s income increase at the same time, that’s when I feel the greatest sense of fulfillment.”
Currently, Startview is composed of marketing professionals with over seven years of experience and planning staff with more than ten years of project management expertise. Including the CEO, all core members have hands-on experience in both advertising agencies and brand in-house teams, giving them a deeper understanding of real-world influencer collaborations and digital marketing practices than anyone else.
“Thanks to this background, our team can quickly identify each client company’s needs and effectively reflect them in our service planning and operations. Moreover, every team member shares and believes in Startview’s vision, aiming for long-term growth. This shared commitment has allowed us to maintain a stable organization and continue growing without any turnover.”
Regarding future plans, the CEO said, “In the short term, our primary goal is to validate PMF (Product-Market Fit) in the domestic affiliate marketing market. To achieve this, we plan to accumulate diverse collaboration cases between advertisers and influencers across various industries and continuously enhance our AI matching algorithm and performance-based reward system.”
“In the long term, our goal is to expand strategic partnerships with major domestic e-commerce platforms based on our proven success cases and to build a one-stop commerce ecosystem where advertisers and influencers can participate seamlessly, thereby enhancing service convenience and scalability. We also plan to expand into global markets such as Southeast Asia and North America, where K-content and short-form consumption are highly active, by localizing Startview’s solution and growing our global influencer network. Ultimately, our vision is to establish Startview as the global standard platform for short-form marketing.”
Date of Establishment: July 2024
Main Business: Short-form content planning and distribution, startup marketing agency services and consulting
Achievements: Selected as a resident company of Konkuk University Campus Town (Apr 2024), selected for the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s Idea Commercialization Support Program (May 2024), selected as a Unicorn incubation company at DDM Youth Startup Center (Jan 2025), and selected for the 15th class of the K-Unicorn Academy (Mar 2025)
reporter jinho lee
jinho2323@hankyung.com
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