In the AI era, corporations that hold differentiated and valuable data will lead the market.
The retail industry had a long-standing problem it couldn't solve. Corporations can figure out how much their products sold, but it was hard to know what products consumers actually bought and why they chose them. A startup solved this with receipts. That is Team Limited.
Chief Executive Bae Su-hyeok, 30, founded Team Limited in June 2023 with co-founders from major retail corporations including GS Retail and E-Land Group. Bae, who majored in economics at the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom, drew on experience starting an anonymous community platform for college students there to jump into the business. In Nov. 2023, the company introduced Yeongkkeul, a rewards app that gives points when consumers register receipts.
Team Limited extracts and secures information such as product names and purchase times from online and offline receipts collected through Yeongkkeul. The information gathered is used for Limited AI, a platform that helps corporations analyze consumers and conduct marketing. Team Limited is also developing a shopping artificial intelligence (AI) agent that performs grocery shopping on users' behalf by analyzing their purchase histories and preferred brands.
The market response is hot. App users numbered about 20,000 in Jan. last year and rose to 600,000 by June this year. Currently, receipts collected each month alone amount to about 2 million.
The steep growth has drawn strong interest from investors. Team Limited raised a Pre-A round of 2.5 billion won in March and was subsequently selected for major startup acceleration programs including the Google Changgu Program and KB Starters. This year, it was also finally chosen for Google for Startups Accelerator 2026, a global program supporting outstanding AI startups, gaining recognition for its technology.
Bae said, "Receipts are data that show what consumers actually bought," adding, "The goal is to provide consumers with a service that does their grocery shopping for them, and to provide corporations with marketing solutions based on actual purchase histories." The following is a Q&A with Bae.
—How do you analyze receipt data?
We extract and structure necessary information from receipts such as product name, price, purchase time, and purchase channel. Through this, we analyze how often consumers buy certain products, which brands they prefer, and how sensitive they are to price changes. We are automating data processing and analysis using AI.
—What are your strengths compared with other platforms?
Card companies can know the payment amount, but it's hard to know what products were purchased. Search platforms or social media corporations can secure interest data, but it's difficult to confirm whether a purchase actually happened. In contrast, we secure data on the products consumers actually paid for. In particular, our ability to analyze offline purchase data as well as online data is a differentiator.
—Are there concerns about personal information leaks?
We do not store sensitive information such as card numbers. Even our corporate clients who receive information from us cannot identify specific individuals. They can know that a certain consumer prefers a certain brand, but not who that person is. Also, we do not store the original receipts as they are; we securely extract only the necessary data and use it, and we continue to focus on data security.
—Why do corporate clients use Limited AI?
Limited AI is a platform that analyzes consumers and conducts targeted marketing based on actual purchase data. Traditionally, consumers were analyzed based on surveys, panel data, and estimates.
In contrast, we approach it based on actual purchase histories. Thanks to that, we can identify consumers who purchased specific products or customer groups that repeatedly buy specific categories and run tailored marketing. Various corporations including CJ and GS are currently using the service.
Results are also emerging. In a project with one client, return on ad spend (ROAS) reached about 1,000%. In the industry, 200% to 300% is generally considered a strong result.
—What is the shopping AI agent service?
In a word, it's a service that does grocery shopping for you. Right now, consumers compare prices and deliberate over what to buy while moving between offline stores and multiple online platforms. We aim for AI to perform the grocery shopping process on behalf of consumers by analyzing users' purchase histories, purchase cycles, price sensitivity, and brand preferences.
We are currently testing with virtual consumers built on real consumer data. Purchase intent for recommended products came in at 93%. Development of the recommendation model is largely complete, and we are now conducting consumer tests and improving the user interface and user experience (UI/UX). The goal is to add related features and officially launch within this year.
—What is Team Limited's goal?
Ultimately, what we want to build is a platform that connects consumers and sellers. We are currently focused on the Korean market, but we also have plans to expand overseas. In the second half of this year, we plan to push into the Southeast Asian market with Singapore as a base. We are also considering expanding to the United States in the latter half of next year.