SIKSIN

About SIKSIN

SIKSIN, established in 2013, is a South Korean food-tech company that operates a restaurant recommendation and discovery platform. The service emerged from a location-based social network called SeeOn, which launched in 2010 and accumulated 150 million user check-ins at restaurants, providing the foundational data for SIKSIN. The platform is led by CEO An Byeong-ik.

The company's core business revolves around its online and mobile platform which provides curated restaurant information based on big data analysis. It evaluates restaurants using criteria such as user reviews, star ratings, blog posts, and television features to provide reliable recommendations. SIKSIN possesses information on approximately 750,000 restaurants in South Korea and also provides data for 96 cities globally. The company has developed a star-rating system, similar to the Michelin Guide, to classify restaurants into different tiers, with only a small fraction earning a star designation. As of 2023, 6,825 restaurants were listed as 'Star Restaurants'.

SIKSIN's business model includes providing its restaurant data to major portals and navigation services in Korea, such as TMAP. The company has also expanded into other services, including a mobile meal ticket solution known as 'SIKSIN e-sikgwon' and has recently launched an AI-based search function to provide more sophisticated and context-aware restaurant suggestions. In late 2024, the company launched 'Methx', an LLM-based AI platform. The platform generates revenue through these data services and partnerships.

The company has raised a total of $9 million in funding over one Series A round in December 2017, with investors including HB Investment, Korea Investment & Securities, and Magna Investment.