Gopizza caught the attention of hungry Koreans with its fast service and bite-sized pizzas. But just three years after founding the company, Lim was already looking abroad. The Gopizza founder went first to India and then to Southeast Asia to give his company the best chance of survival.

The reason? South Korea’s record low birth rate. “The fertility rate is no joke,” says Lim. “Every year 300,000 people disappear, so that’s a huge problem.”

South Korea has the lowest birth rate in the world, with 0.72 births per woman in 2023. This means that the Korean consumer market will shrink unless something changes.

To make matters worse, South Korea’s food industry is under enormous competitive pressure. “We have a rapidly shrinking market and at the same time, statistically speaking, the highest competition in the world. This leads to investors being doubtful or skeptical about our industry. This means that we cannot get investment and cannot grow fast enough,” explains Lim.

Gopizza is expanding worldwide

Gopizza claims to be South Korea’s 11th largest pizza brand, citing its own research based on data registered with the Korean Fair Trade Commission. The startup also says it is the world’s leading South Korean pizza brand in terms of the number of outlets.

Gopizza first expanded to India in 2019, just three years after its founding. The startup now has over 50 branches in the country and a menu tailored to the Indian market.

Gopizza also has a presence in Singapore, the company’s second-largest global market after India. Lim says the expansion into Singapore was done with investors in mind: Success in Singapore, a small country with a competitive market, would prove to investors that Gopizza has potential.

Courtesy of Gopizza

According to Lim, Gopizza is now Singapore’s third-largest pizza brand. The founder attributes the startup’s success in Singapore to a $10 million investment by Thai conglomerate CP All in June.

Gopizza also wants to expand to Indonesia and Thailand. Lim hopes to have his pizzas available in the country’s 7-Eleven stores, which are operated by his backer CP All.

Start Gopizza

The idea for Gopizza was born out of Lim’s frustration with the lack of single-serve pizza options while studying at Singapore Management University.

After returning to Korea, Lim worked part-time at a pizzeria and came to the conclusion that waiting for the dough to rise and making the pizza was a waste of time.

To save time, Lim opted for partially baked dough. Gopizza now has its own dough, which Lim calls an “important part” of the business.

Gopizza is also investing in an AI-powered oven called Goven. The oven rates pizzas based on their toppings, allowing Gopizza officials to monitor the consistency of pizzas in different stores around the world.

Lim argues that the AI ​​oven could be a new revenue stream for Gopizza if the startup can convince other pizza chains that the “Goven” delivers results. “That’s the next chapter. It’s going to be something like a technology company,” he says.