(DO NOT PUBLISH) Startups are betting on affluent Generation X in Korea’s senior housing market

Eldercare startups are rushing to build high-end senior housing in South Korea, targeting affluent Gen limited supply of senior living infrastructure.

Caredoc, a Korean startup offering elderly care services, announced on Tuesday that it has entered into a partnership with the Korean branch of Inspired Healthcare Capital (IHC), a US company that manages 40 senior housing units worth more than 1.5 billion dollars in the US. residential communities for seniors that focus on the wealthy Korean elderly.

The two companies plan to develop a senior city in Korea equipped with high-end, six-star hotel-like residential facilities to lure Gen Xers in their 50s and 60s with high spending power.

Generation They are expected to be the next group of wealthy retirees after Korea’s baby boomers.

Caredoc is the latest startup in Korea to rush into the privately financed senior housing market that will boom after the retirement of the Gen X population.

Caring Co. also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in April with SDAMC, a local developer behind the luxury senior community project in Magok, western Seoul, to develop a new senior living community.

Local Stitch, a Korean co-living startup, also plans to open senior housing for Generation X retirees.

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In addition to startups, many companies in Korea also have high hopes for the senior housing market with expectations of great growth potential.

Asia’s fourth-largest country is on the verge of becoming an obsolete nation, given the decline in the country’s fertility and birth rates.

The number of people aged 65 or older in Korea is expected to exceed 10 million this year, entering an era when 20% of the population are seniors, according to Statistics Korea.

At the current rate, Korea is expected to be the world’s oldest country by 2070, with half the population aged 65 or older, government data show.

But the country lacks a healthcare and housing infrastructure for the elderly, as it relies heavily on public welfare services administered under the Korean Senior Welfare Act.

However, following the retirement of the affluent Generation

Startup’s bigger rivals, such as major Korean conglomerates, have already stepped up their efforts to lead the private luxury senior housing market.

Lotte Hotels & Resorts is building a luxury residential city for retirees in Seoul, with plans to complete it in 2025.

Samsung Life Insurance’s public welfare foundation manages a premium senior living community in Yongin, near Seoul.

Other insurance companies, including Shinhan Life, KB Life Insurance and NH Life Insurance, also announced plans to enter the market.

Write to Eun-Yi Ko at [email protected]

Sookyung Seo edited this article.