Echelon Asia Top 100: Korean startup Komachine emerges winner in the e-commerce & marketplace category
Thai startup Event Banana, an online marketplace to help under-utilised venue owners to connect with people looking for event spaces, is the runner-up
Komachine, an online marketplace for machinery and tools used in different industries, has emerged as the winner in the ‘e-commerce and marketplace’ category at the Echelon Asia Top 100 competition, which is currently underway at Singapore Expo.
Thailand-based Event Banana, an online marketplace to help under-utilised venue owners to connect with people looking for event spaces such as seminar, meeting, offsite, party, etc was adjudged runner-up.
Founded by Charlie Park, Komachine is an online platform connecting more than 40,000 machine suppliers from Korea with over three million global buyers. Komachine claims it is the only B2B platform for machines and tools in the country. It supports four languages, allowing machine suppliers to get access to a global market.
The machine industry is one of the largest in Korea which generates approximately US$90 billion every year. However, the sector is completely offline-based. Most people engaging with this industry are old generation, who neither speak English, nor are they well-versed with computers. However, they spend about US$300 to US$30,000 every month for their offline marketing, such as machine exhibition and magazines. Komachine aims to leverage this massive opportunity.
Komachine is headquartered in Gyeonggi-do.
The runner-up, Event Banana, was founded by Pisit Yawapongsiri and Nattanich Thongkraisaen. It serves as platform to connect event spaces with event hosts giving venue more visibility and business leads, while helping the host with a wide range of options to search and book easily. The company calls itself the “Uber” for events spaces.
Listing is free. However, venues need to pay a fee for premium listings which will generate more visibility and leads. For small-scale venues, Event Banana will charge a 15 per cent commission.
Currently, Event Banana has over 40 paying customers, including major hotel chains in Thailand.
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