Monthly Kitchen

About Monthly Kitchen

Monthly Kitchen, operating under the brand name 'Monki', is a digital food-service platform established in April 2018 by CEO Kim Hyuk-kyun. The company aims to digitally transform the restaurant industry by handling all operational aspects except for cooking, allowing restaurant owners to focus solely on their culinary creations. The business model targets the high failure rate in the restaurant industry, which Kim identified as being caused by significant initial investment costs and a lack of digital infrastructure.

Kim Hyuk-kyun's background includes being an early member of eBay Korea (formerly Auction), where he played a key role in its sale to eBay. He later served as CEO of the global MP3 company iRiver. This experience in e-commerce and technology led him to identify the inefficiencies in the foodservice industry, prompting him to start Monthly Kitchen. He noted that the large, high-growth restaurant sector was lagging in IT adoption compared to other industries.

The company's core offerings include 'Monki Orders', an IT-based integrated store operation solution, and a 'Restaurant Rental' model. Monki provides shared kitchen spaces, known as '맛집편집샵' (맛집편집샵), which translates to 'Restaurant Select Shop,' equipped with kitchen facilities and hall interiors. This model significantly lowers the barrier to entry for entrepreneurs. The platform is a digital food court, integrating online and offline services. The 'Monki' app allows customers to order, pay, and schedule pickups, eliminating wait times. For business owners, the system consolidates orders from various channels (dine-in, delivery, takeout) and provides data-driven services like AI-based demand forecasting. The platform serves individual restaurateurs and has expanded to offer its SaaS solutions to external food businesses. Revenue is generated through these services and has attracted 31 billion KRW in Series A and B funding.