By Mom Corp. Dreams of Supplying a Warm and Cozy Night’s Sleep

Mr. Min-Wook Kim, CEO of By Mom Corp. explains his draft –free indoor tent ‘Pogeuny.’

-Indoor draft-free tent for people living in poverty

-A difference of up to 4 degrees Celsius between the inside and outside of the tent

-Fourth place winner at the Jungjooyoung Business Competition

-Discussions with a major conglomerate for possible high volume orders

By Mom Corp. is a social enterprise manufacturing a ‘room in a room’ indoor draft-free tent for people living in poverty. The idea was first triggered by the sister of Mr. Min-Wook Kim, CEO of By Mom Corp. “My sister lives in deteriorated house, and her family had been suffering from hefty heating bills in the winter. So my mother bought thick quilt fabric to make a bed canopy, hoping to block the cold air leaking into the room. She told me that after she had the canopy covering the bed area it became much more warm and cozy,” he said. After he heard the story of his sister, he planned to turn this idea into a business producing indoor tents for those suffering from high heating bills like his sister. This is the reason he named his enterprise “By Mom.” The idea came from his mother and carries the warmth of a mother’s heart.

Pogeuny, the indoor draft-free tent, has room for two people and is 2 m by 1.5 m. Similar to commercial mosquito nets, it can be easily set up and stored. Most importantly, it has high thermal efficiency. In addition, Kim used special fabric for the top part of the tent to allow light to penetrate, making it possible to read a book inside.

Kim emphasized that the temperature difference between the room and the inside of the tent can be as high as four degrees Celsius. This effect is analogous to that of turning on a furnace. The main fabric used for Pogeuny is high quality cotton with a special coating. Kim won fourth place in the Jungjooyoung Venture Competition last August, competing against more than 900 other entries. He was the only winner from the South Gyungsang Province and Busan area. This paved the way for a 300 million won investment from angel investors.

As By Mom Corp. is a social enterprise, Kim plans to hire employees from low-income families, along with the elderly and young North Korean defectors. He further plans to train unskilled individuals to help them become more attractive in the job market and to provide them with an employment opportunity. In addition, he plans to work with social enterprises that support disabled people, offering them positions on his production line.

Kim has not yet begun a full-fledged marketing campaign, but he has already received a 150 million won order (2,500 Pogeuny tents). He was also contacted by corporate CSR officers interested in distributing Pogeuny tents to low-income families. Clearly, By Mom Corp. has confirmed its business value at an early stage in its development. Kim is working on a project to directly supply Pogeuny tents to consumers, along with working with large corporations. Kim explained that “By Mom Corp. is planning to launch a line of household furniture products in which design and function have been improved. These new products will help households reduce heating costs at a time when fuel prices are rising.”

“I want to run a business that provides warmth, both physically and emotionally, to 7 million households in Korea, elderly people living alone, North Koreans, and others living in poverty around the world. I have ambitious to make By Mom Corp. a role model for young social entrepreneurs hoping to change the world,” Kim passionately explained.

*Original Article : Kookje Ilbo 2012.10.09

*Translated: by Rachel Soul LEE *Edited: by Patrick Ferraro

*Edited: by Patrick Ferraro