In hospital corridors in the middle of the night, in dormitories during exam periods, in the evenings when tourist shops are closed, we feel helpless in the face of hunger. The "food inequality" witnessed by Kwon Soon-chul, CEO of Annie's World, isn't just about economic reasons. It's a reality where access to food is blocked by time, place, and physical conditions.
Founding Anyeatsworld in January 2023 at the age of 36, he was convinced that technology could solve this problem. Under the vision of "EAT FREEFUL," the company established the principle that "everyone should have access to food, anytime, anywhere." Within two years of its founding, the company surpassed 3 billion won in sales. In October 2024, it was selected for TIPS, and in 2025, it secured approximately 800 million won in investment from SJ Investment Partners, The Invention Lab, and Axis Investment.
"While everyone was heading to Gangnam-daero, a bustling area with a high floating population, we focused on where 'effective demand' was concentrated. This was the strategic reason for choosing this special commercial district."
General commercial areas face significant cost barriers, such as rent and labor costs, and are fiercely competitive red oceans. Conversely, specialized commercial areas like hospitals, dormitories, military bases, and logistics centers present a clear need, such as those where customers are hungry but unable to leave the house or have to travel a long distance to get there.
Annie's World is achieving high performance in markets others have abandoned by dramatically reducing fixed costs through an IoT and AI-based unmanned operation system. This is evidenced by its 800% sales growth in just one year since its founding.
When analyzing profitability, we analyze not simply "how many people pass through," but "how long they stay in the space and whether there are alternatives." For hospitals, we consider the number of night shift workers and the occupancy ratio of patients and their caregivers. For dormitories, we consider behavioral context data, such as proximity to convenience stores and late-night snack demand during exam periods. We simulate the expected sales of a space using our proprietary AI demand forecasting model, and only enter locations with a clear chance of breaking even.
"While our competitors worry about how to sell canned beverages efficiently, we offer a warm meal and a relaxing break," said Kwon. "Our clients prioritize user satisfaction, not machine satisfaction." This is the secret to how Anyeatsworld, with its technological prowess and planning prowess, has been able to defeat large corporations.
The TIPS selection in October 2024 proved that Anyeatsworld is not just a distribution company, but a data-driven food tech company. The system doesn't simply look at the number of ramen units sold. It uses big data to analyze the correlation between sales and various environmental variables, such as weather and temperature, exam periods, and hospital visitation times.
“If AI learns data that shows that ‘ramen sales in dorms spike by 30% on rainy days,’ when there’s a forecast for rain, the system will automatically order 1.5 times more ramen than usual, even without the owner’s request.”
Opportunity costs due to out-of-stock items are prevented and waste rates are dramatically reduced. This is the key to efficient supply chain management. The "AI Personalized Recommendation Engine," currently in development, analyzes customers' past purchase history and health status to suggest optimal menus when they arrive at the kiosk. On the hardware side, the company is developing a modular smart vending machine that eliminates spatial constraints. Anyeatsworld is nearing the commercialization of flexible hardware that can be fitted like Lego blocks into any space, as well as an AI-powered, eye-tracking barrier-free kiosk for wheelchair users and others.
The emotional unmanned cafe brand "Anyforest" is set to launch its first store in 2025 at the Jeju World Natural Heritage Center, marking its official launch. It is currently expanding to campuses in the Yeongnam region, including Daegu and Busan. CEO Kwon emphasized, "What Jeju's Geomun Oreum and the university campuses in Daegu and Busan have proven is that even a barren lounge, when infused with design and technology, can become a forest people want to linger in."
By introducing a can-sealing system, we were able to take drinks to classrooms or outdoors without worrying about spills, and we shortened manufacturing times to maximize turnover. Our "hybrid system," which operates unmanned 24/7 but employs manned personnel during peak hours, is a strategy that achieves both sales and management goals.
This year marks the first full-scale expansion of Anyforest into the Seoul metropolitan area. Currently, we're remodeling an unused space within Suwon First Church to open an Anyforest location. More than just a simple café, it will become a community hub where local residents and church members can connect. Starting with this project, we'll focus on special-purpose spaces such as large churches, libraries, and public institutions in the Seoul and Gyeonggi areas.
AniEatsWorld's core business philosophy is "starting small and making a solid profit." Owners can start a small business with a basic capital of 30 to 50 million won. With virtually no fixed cost risks like rent and labor, operating profit margins are high. The payback period is two to three years, more than twice as fast as that of a typical franchise. For the same time and cost as opening a single regular store, AniEatsWorld can simultaneously establish ten locations.
CEO Kwon Soon-chul explained, "In the unmanned food business, logistics is like the blood vessels of our body. We've built a data-driven, hyper-connected cold chain system to seamlessly supply fresh food from Goseong, Gangwon Province, to Jeju Island." A key technology in logistics is predictive delivery. AI data analysis predicts the point of depletion for each machine, allowing logistics drivers to efficiently replenish inventory using the optimal route.
The three metropolitan hubs—Gimpo, Guri, and Suwon—cover the densely populated Seoul and Gyeonggi regions in a triangular formation. This minimizes product quality issues and enhances freshness. Regional expansion plans include Anseong, Daegu, Busan, and the Honam region. When the number of equipment installed in a given region reaches a critical point for logistics efficiency, these hubs will be opened to minimize fixed cost risk.
CEO Kwon has begun preparations for the Series A round. The target funding size is 3 to 5 billion won. The secured funds will be invested in three areas: fueling the Korean Wave by exporting smart vending machines through K-food, and widening the gap in food tech by developing an AI hyper-personalization engine that recommends customized healthcare diets. Finally, the company plans to establish Aniforest brand stores in landmark locations throughout the metropolitan area to solidify brand awareness.
The company's slogan, "Making the World Delicious," applies not only to customers but also to its members.
"Anietsworld's organizational culture is one of immersion within autonomy. The organic movement of our five teams—strategic planning, sales, management, research, and OS—is fueled by a shared conviction that the problems we solve can change someone's life."
Kwon's leadership philosophy is to create a laboratory that allows for failure. He emphasized, "New attempts inevitably involve failure. However, I encourage my team to embrace failure and challenge themselves in a different way than yesterday. I believe that safe failures accumulate to create great innovation."
Annie's World's goal within the next 3-5 years is to become the leading food tech company that redefines the value of space.
"When buildings or spaces become vacant, it will be the 'first solution sought.' If Annie's World's system is integrated into empty commercial spaces, they will become restaurants, cafes, and even healthcare centers. Our ultimate goal is to usher in the era of FaaS (Food as a Service)."
CEO Kwon said, "We're not just a company that sells food. We want to be remembered as a company that uses technology to eliminate the constraints of time and space, providing everyone around the world with a fair and delicious everyday life."
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