[Seowon University 2025 Startup Scale-Up Package Selected Company] ‘Payple,’ a fintech startup that provides various payment solutions such as account authentication and membership

Kim Hyunchul, CEO of Payple

Providing various payment solutions such as account payment, link payment, settlement and payout agency, account authentication, and membership
Lowering entry barriers to enable easy adoption and quickly respond to the needs of startups and SMEs

Payple is a fintech startup that provides various payment solutions such as account authentication and membership. It was founded in March 2018 by CEO Kim Hyunchul (44).

CEO Kim founded Payple based on his previous experience working in the payment gateway (PG) industry.

“Payple is a fintech startup that was founded with the vision of ‘Simple payment for people.’ Its main business areas are electronic financial services, providing a wide range of payment solutions such as overseas card payments, domestic card and account payments, link payments, settlement and payout agency, account authentication, and membership. In particular, we focus on providing customized payment solutions for startups and SMEs.”

The flagship service is overseas card payment. It is a service that enables domestic businesses to receive payments from overseas customers, allowing transactions in various currencies (USD, EUR, JPY, etc.) and settlements in either Korean won or foreign currencies. Global payments can be made simply by entering card information.

Domestic card and account payment services are also provided. While similar to existing PG services, it is designed with a developer-friendly API for easier integration. Additionally, it provides a service that enables the generation of payment links without requiring separate development, allowing payments to be received simply by sharing the link via KakaoTalk or other social media platforms. It is beneficial for small business owners. There is also a service that enables platform companies to settle payments to their partner merchants automatically.

“We respond quickly to the needs of startups and SMEs. We have lowered entry barriers, allowing even early-stage startups without sales to adopt our services easily. We provide an API that developers can integrate quickly and easily. Through an open test account, anyone can perform integration testing.”

Payple has built an infrastructure that enables domestic businesses to receive payments from overseas customers. It supports multiple currencies and provides flexible settlement options.

CEO Kim said, “Through settlement and payout agency, we have automated the settlement process for platform companies, improving operational efficiency.”

Payple is actively leveraging the success stories of actual clients such as Krity (creator platform), WondersLab (AI assistant), and Tublet (online admissions platform) in its marketing.

“Through the developer center, we make it easy for developers to access, and through the open API, we encourage their voluntary participation. In addition, we operate channels such as YouTube, Facebook, X, Instagram, and NAVER Blog for digital marketing.”

Payple secured seed investment from Primer in 2018, followed by Pre-A investments from Strong Ventures in 2019 and 500 Global in 2020.

“Based on our current sales growth, we are considering attracting additional investment. In particular, we need to secure funding for the development of new services.”

How did CEO Kim come to start the business? “I previously worked in the payment gateway (PG) industry, and it was from that experience that I got the idea to start the business. At the time, although account-based payment services could be cost-effective for merchants and expand consumer choices, I found it regrettable that they still required the use of public certificates and ActiveX. In particular, I wanted to create services for startups, but it wasn’t easy to realize that in a large company. I wanted to solve the problem in the existing PG industry, where services were centered on large corporations, and smaller clients often did not get proper responses even when they made requests. Since there was no payment solution where both merchants and consumers could achieve a win-win, I decided to create one myself.”

After founding the company, CEO Kim said, “The greatest reward is seeing early-stage startups grow together with Payple,” adding, “I felt proud when our client Krity said it felt like we were starting together and that working with us was like having an in-house payment manager.”

“By helping early-stage startups without sales easily adopt payment services, I feel a great sense of fulfillment in truly contributing to their business growth. I feel a sense of accomplishment in solving, through technology, the very problems I wanted to address at my previous job. In particular, when developers give feedback that ‘integration is really easy,’ I gain satisfaction from achieving my technical goals.”

Payple is composed of 14 members, including CEO Kim. Regarding future plans, CEO Kim said, “We aim to become a comprehensive financial service platform where anyone doing business online can solve all money-related tasks through Payple.”

Date of Establishment: March 2018
Main Business: Payment Gateway (PG)
Achievements: ₩3.6 billion in revenue in 2024

reporter jinho lee
[email protected]