Korea is about to see essential progress in versatile employment choices, as Korean startup Needer secures a strategic funding from Timee, Japan. The partnership targets to extend the spot work model—additionally known as ultra-short-term or time-based labor—all through the market in South Korea, supporting cross-border labor innovation and demographic resilience.
Korean Startup Needer Secures Funding from Timee Japan
Needer, a Korean startup specializing in spot work in South Korea, launched on July 25, 2025, that it has secured a strategic funding from Timee, Japan.
This marks Timee’s first-ever overseas firm funding. Based mostly in 2017, Timee grew rapidly by serving to deal with Japan’s persistent labor shortages by means of its platform-based spot work model and effectively went public in 2024. Its entry into the Korean market shows rising startup funding from Japan in Korea, notably in sectors tackling workforce transformation and labor mobility.
By selecting Needer, Timee targets to ship its confirmed model to a model new labor market by means of an space confederate already energetic in South Korea’s evolving employment panorama. This funding partnership between Needer and Timee underscores shared targets of creating new job codecs and enabling a further versatile, resilient labor ecosystem.
Gupgoo by Needer: Rising Quick, Versatile Job Entry in a Shrinking Workforce
Over time, Needer has operated the Gubgoo platform, which connects job seekers to hourly gigs and ultra-short-term jobs with fast, versatile income alternate options. Gubgoo affords an end-to-end decision that options attendance verification, job matching, and computerized wage settlement—designed to cut back friction for every employers and workers.
Spot work in South Korea has develop to be an an increasing number of important labor model, significantly as a result of the nation faces a record-low fertility cost of 0.75 and an getting outdated inhabitants. Corporations in retail, logistics, and restore sectors are an increasing number of turning to real-time, just-in-time staffing to fill labor gaps.
Gubgoo’s success on this space is mirrored in its partnerships with foremost firms just like Coupang, IKEA Korea, and BGF Retail. These collaborations have positioned Needer as better than solely a gig platform—it now performs a major operate in Korea’s B2B labor infrastructure.
The model new startup funding from Timee, Japan, further validates Needer’s approach and expands its functionality to drive platform-based labor innovation all through South Korea.
Accelerating Spot Work Market in South Korea with Funding from Timee Japan
With a model new strategic funding from Timee, Japan, startup agency Needer is about to pace up the occasion of spot work market in South Korea.
The partnership shows a shared objective: to arrange new varieties of employment and permit a further versatile labor ecosystem suited to Korea’s demographic and workforce shifts.
The two corporations aim to scale spot work practices inside South Korea and develop enterprise fashions that deal with the nation’s declining labor energy and rising demand for short-term, time-based jobs.
“South Korea is in the mean time current course of two foremost shifts: a declining labor inhabitants and rising demand for versatile job alternate options. Timee’s funding and partnership symbolize a important first step in the direction of collectively foremost innovation in time-based labor markets.”
Shin Hyun Sik, CEO of Needer Korea.
Needer has acknowledged that the funding received’t solely strengthen its technological and operational capabilities however as well as widen entry to spot work alternate options—notably for untapped labor segments just like side-job seekers and the getting outdated inhabitants.
“Needer will work to extend spot work alternate options inside the Korean market, which holds essential untapped potential—along with aspect job seekers and the getting outdated inhabitants. We aim to contribute to fixing social points by enabling further people to entry new varieties of work.”
Shin Hyun Sik, CEO of Needer Korea.
Combining Experience and Market Notion to Develop Employment Entry in South Korea
Lastly, new strategic switch moreover shows a broader growth of the startup funding from Japan in South Korea, notably all through the workforce know-how and versatile labor sectors. Every worldwide places face comparable structural challenges, and the partnership is anticipated to generate scalable, culturally educated choices for time-based labor.
“South Korea is experiencing a steeper decline in birthrate than Japan, with an entire fertility cost of merely 0.75.
By combining the expertise Timee has developed in Japan with Needer’s deep understanding of the Korean market, we think about we’re capable of further efficiently discover our mission of ‘rising the potential for working’ in Korea as successfully.”
Ryo Ogawa, CEO of Timee.
The cross-border collaboration is anticipated to pace up the enlargement of spot work alternate options and time-based labor platforms in South Korea, a market nonetheless in its early phases as compared with Japan.
The joint initiative moreover targets to redefine employment norms by bettering entry to short-term, versatile jobs—significantly amongst underutilized labor swimming swimming pools just like school college students, retirees, and side-job seekers.
Lastly, this model not solely addresses immediate market inefficiencies nevertheless contributes to setting up a further inclusive, responsive, and resilient employment framework in South Korea.
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