On the 16th, claims emerged that Naver subsidiary Snow (SNOW) had "been robbed of its business" regarding the recently launched hair consulting service.
According to a report by ChosunBiz on the 24th, conflict is escalating between the startup Above Tech, which operates the customized AI hair consulting service "Weavmet," and Naver's (NAVER) smartphone application subsidiary, Snow.
Above Tech's CEO Choi Ju-won recently claimed on his social media that Snow had taken advantage of their collaboration to rob his business.
The Weavmet service, launched in July, allows customers to receive related treatments in offline shops after analyzing customer characteristics with AI and recommending hairstyles in collaboration with the beauty franchise brand "Lian Hair."
◇ The two companies met in July last year for collaboration...final outcome failed
Snow and Above Tech first met in July last year due to a contact from CEO Choi Ju-won. The Lian Hair side, which was collaborating with Above Tech, suggested using synthesized images with Snow's Application Programming Interface (API) in the hair consulting report. In response, Choi obtained the contact details of Snow's representatives through Lian Hair and attempted to make contact, holding meetings twice in July and October.
During this process, Snow suggested integrating its hair consulting product into its app "Soda" instead of providing the API and requested information related to the Weavmet service from Above Tech. Choi noted, "After the contact, I provided information related to the overall business, including the salon's response, requested data from salons during the collaboration process, churn rates within the service, and payment conversion rates," adding, "I could not withhold information in a situation where collaboration was being requested."
The two companies continued discussions until November, but the collaboration ultimately failed due to Snow's refusal. Subsequently, on the 16th, Snow launched an AI hair consulting service in collaboration with designer Cha Hong of the beauty salon brand "Cha Hong Arder."
Choi stated, "Above Tech is the only corporation with this specific business model in South Korea" and expressed suspicion that Snow may have taken and used Above Tech's service metrics under the pretext of collaboration.
◇ Snow, in collaboration with Cha Hong, launches AI hair consulting service..."No technology theft"
Snow stated that the claims of business theft are unfounded and that this service had been planned before the meeting with Above Tech. They noted that during the collaboration discussions, only minimal information necessary to verify product performance was requested, and there was no business or technology theft.
A Snow representative emphasized, "The hair consulting service provided in collaboration with beauty salons is a product planned since 2023" and added, "We had already been interacting with salon franchises since June, before the first meeting with Above Tech (in July)."
Snow also commented, "It is a natural procedure for technology corporations to collaborate with experts and related businesses, so it is difficult to accept Above Tech's claims."
Some point out that it is not uncommon for large corporations to release similar products after receiving pertinent information under the guise of collaborating with startups.
An individual connected to a startup noted, "Startups that are absolutely disadvantaged in terms of funding find it difficult to resort to legal measures" and added, "Most startups end up giving up on separating right from wrong."