Kookmin University Spinoff Mimeheim Wins TIPS Funding for Tagless Payment Tech

Kookmin University announced Wednesday that its subsidiary Mimeheim has been selected for the Tech Incubator Program for Startup (TIPS), a private investment-led technology startup support program run by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

TIPS is a program that identifies and supports promising startups with innovative technologies. Selected companies receive up to 800 million won ($580,000) in research and development and commercialization funding.

Through this TIPS selection, Mimeheim plans to accelerate development of a Zero UI tagless payment platform for public transportation.

The company aims to improve recognition errors and payment failures in tagless technology currently being piloted on domestic buses and subways, building an accurate and stable automatic payment environment without any user interaction.

The core of Mimeheim's service is implementing a Zero UI-based tagless system where payments occur naturally during movement, without the hassle of launching apps or tapping cards.

This is expected to dramatically reduce user inconvenience in daily public transit use while also significantly decreasing inaccurate settlement issues caused by payment errors for operators, simultaneously improving service efficiency.

Mimeheim plans to first verify stability and economic viability through regional pilot projects, then gradually expand service coverage by integrating with major metropolitan transportation networks and domestic settlement operator systems.

Through this phased expansion strategy, the company has set a mid-to-long-term goal of completing an integrated transportation payment model that can be used uniformly anywhere in the country.

With overseas expansion also in mind, Mimeheim is exploring partnership opportunities centered on Asian and European markets where demand for tagless payment and location-based automation technology is high. The company presented a vision of developing into a global MaaS (Mobility as a Service) platform that connects transportation, tourism, and commercial services.

"This TIPS selection is official recognition of Mimeheim's technological potential and commercialization possibilities," CEO Jang Tae-soo said. "We will lead the way in changing the paradigm of public transportation payments through our Zero UI tagless payment platform."