Shikshin

About Shikshin

Shikshin Co., Ltd. is a South Korean food-tech company that has evolved from a restaurant recommendation service into a comprehensive B2B and B2C solutions provider. Founded in May 2010 by CEO Ahn Byeong-ik as 'seeon', the company initially launched a location-based social networking service. Ahn, who holds a doctorate in computer science, leveraged his technical background to pivot the company towards food-related services. In 2013, the firm released 'Shikshin', a big data-powered restaurant recommendation app.

The company operates two primary services. The first is its original 'Shikshin' platform, a consumer-facing application that provides food and restaurant information, user reviews, and community features, serving over 350 million monthly active users. The second, and a core component of its current business model, is 'Shikshin e-meal ticket', a digital meal ticket solution for corporate clients launched in 2015. This service replaces traditional paper-based meal vouchers and corporate cards, allowing employees to pay for meals at a network of restaurants using a smartphone app. The B2B e-meal ticket platform generates revenue by providing a transparent and efficient way for companies to manage their employees' meal allowances and has become the market leader in South Korea, serving 240,000 users daily across 55,000 affiliated restaurants.

Shikshin is expanding its business model to capitalize on its vast repository of food and user data. The company is developing a data-as-a-service (DaaS) platform that combines its internal restaurant and menu data with external datasets to offer valuable insights to corporate clients, such as F&B franchises and ingredient suppliers. This new subscription-based model will provide trend analysis on popular menus and ingredients. Additionally, Shikshin offers its restaurant data and ranking content as a widget for other applications, such as mobility service apps, creating a new B2B revenue stream. The company has also ventured into the metaverse with 'Twinkorea', a platform that links the real and virtual worlds through digital land ownership tied to actual restaurant locations. After achieving its first semi-annual operating profit in 2024, Shikshin is pursuing an IPO.