Newneek
2 known investors
Newneek is a South Korean digital media company that distributes news by email newsletter. Its editors summarize current events in a conversational, informal style and send them to subscribers on a regular schedule.
Also known as (주)뉴닉 · Newneek Co., Ltd. · 뉴닉
Founders & leadership
Investors · 2
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Newneek (뉴닉) is a South Korean knowledge and media platform that packages news and current affairs into short, conversational summaries. The company is operated by Newneek Co., Ltd. from the Mapo district of Seoul and is best known for an email newsletter written in the voice of its mascot "Gosuni" (고슴이), alongside a mobile app, a Slack news bot and social channels on Instagram and X. It positions itself as addressing the problem, framed around younger Korean readers, that knowledge and information are abundant but difficult and inconvenient to consume, using curation, storytelling and branding as its approach.
The Newneek mobile app, launched in 2022, offers one-minute briefings ("시간없슴"), audio briefings, a "Pizza Station" survey feature where readers share opinions on trending issues, weekly news quizzes, category-based trending news feeds, and premium articles covering economics, technology, humanities and politics. Habit mechanics are built in: users collect "oranges" through daily missions, maintain reading streaks, and spend oranges on cosmetic items to decorate the Gosuni hedgehog character. The app is rated 9+ on the App Store and has surpassed 100,000 downloads on Google Play, with in-app purchases for course-style content bundles.
Founding story
Newneek was cofounded by Soyoun Kim, who serves as chief executive officer, and Daeun Bhin, both graduates of Seoul National University, to make domestic and international current affairs available in short, easily digestible form.
Business model
Newneek operates a consumer content business built around a free news newsletter and app, monetized in part through paid content. The iOS app sells in-app purchases for structured learning packages such as "경제 기본기" (economics fundamentals) at $9.99, a three-part liberal-arts package at $24.99, a personal-finance course at $6.99, a three-part economics package at $22.99 and a humanities package at $9.99, and the app also references premium article subscriptions.
Revenue comes from paid digital content: in-app purchases of premium article packages and course bundles priced between $6.99 and $24.99 on iOS, plus premium content subscriptions offered through the app.
Traction
Newneek reports over 600,000 newsletter subscribers, approximately 1.1 million users overall, and cumulative app downloads of 450,000 since the app's 2022 launch; Google Play lists more than 100,000 downloads for the Android app, which holds a 4.8 rating from 12 ratings on the US App Store. The app ships frequent releases, reaching version 0.16.0 in August.
Latest developments
Recent app releases have added a redesigned Today Briefing on the home screen, an improved issue timeline, search within the Discover tab, a 24-hour "trending news" view, a dedicated Survey tab for Pizza Station, light/dark mode and font-size settings, new home-screen widgets for audio briefing playback and daily orange collection, and seasonal Gosuni customization items including ones tied to the June 3 local elections.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
Newneek describes its newsletter as the leading newsletter in South Korea, citing more than 600,000 newsletter subscribers and roughly 1.1 million total users ("뉴니커"). It is listed as a 500 Global portfolio company, and its cofounders were recognized on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list for Media, Marketing & Advertising in 2020.
The product's distinguishing features are a conversational, informal editorial voice carried by the Gosuni hedgehog mascot, very short formats (one-minute briefings and audio briefings), and gamified habit-building mechanics such as reading streaks, orange rewards and character customization. The company reported a newsletter open rate of about 40%, which Forbes noted is above industry norms.
Technology
Newneek runs a consumer web property and native iOS and Android apps backed by an internal API host (api.newneek.co) that is not publicly documented; the company publishes no developer portal, API documentation or machine-readable API surface. Reported web technologies include Redux, Tailwind CSS, Headless UI, PHP, Gnuboard CMS, Cloudflare CDN, HSTS, Facebook Login, Google Analytics, FlareLane and Twitter Ads. The domain uses TLS 1.3, HSTS and DMARC.
Go-to-market
Distribution is direct-to-consumer: an email newsletter with an open sign-up flow at newneek.co/subscribe, iOS and Android apps, a Slack news bot, a Naver blog, and social accounts on Instagram and X. Engagement and retention are encouraged through daily streaks, quizzes, surveys and collectible in-app items.
General Korean-language consumers who want quick, accessible news, described by the company as MZ-generation readers who find knowledge and information overwhelming and hard to approach; Forbes characterized the platform as targeting millennials.
Geography
Headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, at 마포구 어울마당로 35, 5층 (Seogyo-dong), Mapo-gu, with a Korean-language product serving domestic readers.
History
The company was founded in 2018 and is operated as Newneek Co., Ltd. Its cofounders, Soyoun Kim and Daeun Bhin, both graduated from Seoul National University and were named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2020 list in Media, Marketing & Advertising, at which point Newneek was described as a digital news platform for millennials with a weekly email newsletter. Newneek launched its mobile app in 2022 and has since expanded it with audio briefings, surveys, quizzes and paid premium content.
Compiled by commissioned research from 6 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 3
launches, deals, and filingsRelease introduced a new Today Briefing on the home screen, an improved issue timeline and bug fixes.
Newneek released its mobile app in 2022, extending the newsletter into iOS and Android products with briefings, audio content and premium articles.
Cofounders Soyoun Kim and Daeun Bhin were profiled on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2020 list for Media, Marketing & Advertising.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 6
primary sources listed
- 뉴닉 - 가장 쉬운 뉴스 브리핑 - Apps on Google Playplay.google.com · web
6 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Newneek do?
- Newneek is a South Korean media company delivering easy-to-read news briefings by email newsletter and mobile app.
- Who founded Newneek?
- Newneek was founded by Daeun Bhin, Soyoun Kim.
- Who are Newneek's investors?
- Newneek's investors include 500 Global, Kakao Ventures.