The Korea Herald

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Mobile motel booking firm draws W15b investment

By Kim Young-won

Published : April 6, 2016 - 15:11

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Yanolija, a local motel booking company, has pulled fresh investment worth 15 billion won ($13 million) from investors from the U.K. and Korea, it said Wednesday.

SL Investment Management of the U.K. and a Seoul-based investor, Partners Investment, have decided to invest in the motel booking business, which has been logging growth in recent years.

The logo of motel booking service Yanolja (Yanolja) The logo of motel booking service Yanolja (Yanolja)

Established in 2007, the motel booking business posted 36.7 billion won in sales in 2015, up 82 percent year-on-year.

Partners Investment, in particular, was investing in the firm for the second time, after it poured 10 billion won in July last year.

The Korean firm has 25,000 motels and accommodations nationwide registered on its app, Yanolja, and runs its own 84 motels across the nation.

It also runs premium motel rooms and connected services that allow users to pair their mobile devices with electronics, including TVs, installed in motel rooms.

“Yanolja was able to grow by expanding its online services into offline services,” said its CEO Lee Su-jin in a press release, adding that the company would diversify online-to-offline services.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)