From zero-fraud tickets to AI-run workspaces and a global tee sheet – four founders rewriting the rails of experiences, events and golf.
At the WiT Bootcamp, four travel startups from South Korea shared their stories: Minhee Cho (Founder & CEO, Alicorn), Yoon Ji Choi (CSO, FAIRPASS), Dongjoo Lee (CEO, Guarantable/MoveTicket) and David Park (GM, AGL Inc).
What emerged was clear – each of them are fixing maddening, very real problems: wasteful badges, scalped tickets, opaque golf inventory, and labour-heavy venue ops. Each founder’s origin story begins with a personal pain point and a resolve to scale solutions beyond Korea through partnerships.
FAIRPASS: Killing the “two-hour plastic badge”
Problem: Millions of disposable name badges for events, used once, tossed.
Solution: FAIRPASS replaces one-off plastic/paper with 100% reusable badges + self-service kiosks, shrinking material waste and onsite labor.
“People think sustainability is expensive. The kiosk model pays for itself by cutting counters and staff,” said Yoon Ji Choi.
Headwind: Change aversion in the events industry; convincing both organisers and investors that “green” can be a net saver.
Go-to-market: Start with own events to prove ROI; localise for Singapore and seek operating partners.
Alicorn: The AI/IoT ops brain for spaces (not another coworking brand)
Backstory: After building Korea’s startup network RocketPunch (4M annual users) and overspending on a physical workspace bet, Minhee Cho pivoted hard: no more owning space; sell the software that runs it.
Now: Alicorn is an AI/IoT SaaS to operate gyms, hotels and facilities – access control, automation, unmanned ops – born from tools they built for their own sites.
“Two lessons: spend money wisely and focus. One company, one KPI,” said Minhee Cho.
Scaling: Playbook from a 2024 Rakuten Japan launch; repeat with local distribution partners market by market. Series B in motion to globalise.
Guarantable / MoveTicket: Tickets you can’t scalp
Catalyst: Coldplay sells out in minutes; resale explodes at 5× face value.
Product: MoveTicket, a blockchain-based ticketing platform designed to stop scalping and counterfeit.
- 10,000+ tickets issued since May; zero ticket fraud to date.
- Records transactions on-chain; enables controlled resale and authentic transfer.
“Tech isn’t enough, organisers must trust it and feel it’s simple,” said Dongjoo Lee
Perception gap: “Blockchain = scam” still lingers; UX and plain-language education are the moat.
Expansion: HQ Korea; Singapore hub for SEA; live in Korea, Thailand, eyeing Middle East; pre-A next year. Competes with incumbents (Ticketmaster/interpark) on fraud prevention, transparent resale.
AGL: Connecting the world’s tee times (for people who actually love golf)
Why this one matters: Golf looks digitised on the surface; at the rails it’s not. AGL is wiring golf courses, agencies, and golfers into an open booking platform.
- 4,000 courses onboard; target 5,000 this year
- Stronghold: Asia (Korea, Japan, SE Asia, China), with ~100 Europe / ~50 US
- Customer base still heavily Korean, now pushing global demand
“Cash flow keeps you alive. Love keeps you going,” said David Park.
Reality check: Some elite clubs (hello, Sentosa) prefer off-platform; AGL grows by respecting supply norms, not bulldozing them.
What they’ve learned (so you don’t have to)
- Trust beats tech. If organisers don’t trust your rails, the rails don’t matter (MoveTicket).
- Focus is a superpower. One product, one KPI; hire last (Alicorn).
- Sustainability must pencil out. Reuse + self-service changes the cost stack (FAIRPASS).
- Founder-market love shows. Tenacity is a function of caring (AGL).
How they’ll scale beyond Korea
- Partnerships first: Rakuten-style channel localisation (Alicorn); Singapore base for SEA (MoveTicket); regional operator partners (FAIRPASS); course-by-course supply diplomacy (AGL).
- Regtech & paytech savvy: Cross-border payments, controlled resale, and market-specific checkouts are as important as features.
- AI where it’s boring (and vital): Unmanned ops, fraud detection, reconciliation, demand prediction, freeing humans to fix traveller-visible moments.
