DNK's reverse run that secured 25,000 households in just 7 months of launch and even led to the success of its local Japanese subsidiary
The reality of digital in the Asian rental management market that has relied on Excel and manual methods for over 20 years
2 a.m., in an officetel management office in Gangnam, Seoul. An employee is holding the phone.
“The toilet in the third floor bathroom is clogged? Contact the company right now…” After finishing the call, he opens an Excel file and manually enters the information on the ‘A/S reception status’ sheet. In the morning, he checks the monthly rent deposit, and in the afternoon, he calls those who are late. In the evening, he guides those who want to move in. This scene, which repeats all day, is a typical scene of rental management just a few years ago.
At the same time, an executive of a real estate asset management company in Tokyo’s Shibuya is checking real-time vacancy rates and rent collection rates on his smartphone. Complaints are automatically classified and organized by priority, and a list of “households at risk of vacancy this month” predicted by AI is sent as a message. It’s a different scene from just seven months ago.
At the center of this change is DNK. Having successfully entered the Japanese market and acquired 25,000 households in just seven months since its product launch, the company is shaking up 20 years of old practices in the Asian rental management market. It is not simply ‘digitalization’, but redefining rental management itself as an ‘asset strategy’.
Kim In-song (35), DNK Co-CEO and CSO, is a real estate expert who oversaw business development at WeWork Korea and gained experience investing in large-scale real estate projects at an investment firm. We met him at the DNK office in Itaewon, Yongsan, Seoul, and explained the changes in the PMS market landscape, DNK’s differentiation strategy, and the background to its successful entry into Japan.
Operator-created PMS, the difference of ‘renter-centered’ design
DNK's strength is its 'on-site presence'. It is not simply a PMS developed by a software company, but a solution derived from the experience of directly operating real estate.
“While the housing market in advanced countries has formed a corporate rental housing market, in Korea, it is mostly privately owned. In line with advanced trends, we believed that there would be a need for a company that could specialize in rental management in Korea, and so we founded ‘Dongne,’ the predecessor of DNK, in 2020.”
Initially, 'Dongne' operated the 'Dongne FLEX' service, which provided premium newly built apartments with low deposits and fixed monthly rents. However, while operating it directly, we realized the problems of repetitive and inefficient tasks such as contract management, rent collection, and communication with tenants. To solve this, the PMS developed internally greatly improved operational efficiency, and this experience became DNK's competitive edge.
The distinctive element of DNK, designed by CEO Kim In-song, is the product structure that appeals to landlords (property owners) rather than PMCs (management companies). “While general PMSs are often designed around functions used by field operators, we have placed functions that directly affect real estate profitability and investment performance at the forefront.”
In fact, DNK's 'Leasing Manager' and Investment Manager provide functions focused on asset profitability, such as vacancy management, rent increase rate monitoring, and investment performance analysis. This structure is receiving strong interest from major REITs, asset management companies, and family offices in Japan. Through this, the customer scope of PMS is expanding from PMC to asset owners.
Successful Entry into Japan: ‘Landlord Language’ Breaks Through Conservative Market
DNK said that it established a Japanese corporation in 2024, making it the only domestic PMS company to enter the overseas market. Japan is a huge market with over 15 million rental housing units, but it is conservative in that most of it is operated based on Excel and manual processes.
“It is true that Japan is a conservative market, but the demand for digital transformation has been highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Above all, as Japan is suffering from a shortage of manpower due to its aging population, the need for automation solutions has been increasing in the housing management sector, which involves a lot of repetitive and complex work.”
CEO Kim In-song explained that the key breakthrough for entering the Japanese market was the message that "PMS is not a simple management tool, but a strategic infrastructure linked to asset profitability." Existing PMSs were designed around PMCs, making it difficult for landlords to view operational data in an integrated manner. On the other hand, DNK emphasized that it designed its products based on its experience as an actual landlord in operating real estate.
“Japanese customers showed a high level of trust in us because we are not simply a technology company that creates and sells a PMS, but because we have experience in solving problems that landlords face, such as rent collection, vacancy risk, tenant response, and investment return management.”
In particular, it was effective to explain functions such as vacancy rate management, rental performance tracking, and operational efficiency in the ‘language of landlords.’ This was not simply a functional necessity, but was recognized as a value directly related to actual asset profitability, and played an important role in building trust with asset management companies, REITs, and family offices that have landlords as their customers.
For other startups considering entering the Japanese market, CEO Kim In-song gave three pieces of advice. First, a structural advantage that can clearly demonstrate a difference in performance compared to existing systems is necessary. Second, establishing a local network is a key to success. Third, foreign companies can be a good opportunity.
“Before technology, you need to prepare a clear differentiation that customers desperately want and a good local team to go beyond ‘entering’ and ‘sustain’.”
AI-based strategy and roadmap for expansion into the Asian market
An important direction in DNK's mid- to long-term strategy is the advancement of AI automation based on data accumulated in PMS. Currently, PMS accumulates repetitive work flows related to real estate operations, such as vacancy management, rent billing, civil complaint response, and accounting settlement, in a structured form.
“Rather than viewing AI technology itself as a differentiating factor, DNK believes that the key to competitiveness lies in having a structure and data base that can effectively utilize AI.”
CEO Kim In-song emphasized that as AI technology has rapidly become popular, the ‘environment in which the technology operates and data quality’ have become more important than the ‘technology itself.’
DNK’s strength lies in its ability to accumulate vast and accurate operational data based on a PMS designed for the Asia Pacific market. While North American solutions are designed based on a standardized operational model, DNK is securing a realistic and on-site data set by digitalizing the actual PMC and landlord operational flow in markets with many non-standard tasks such as Korea and Japan.
For example, rather than simple 'vacancy status' data, the timing of rent changes, tenant complaint history, automatic billing failure history, and on-site response time are recorded in real time, and based on this, the risk prediction, maintenance priority derivation, and payment automation logic determined by AI become more sophisticated and closely linked to actual operational performance.
In the future, DNK plans to expand into AI-based operational KPI analysis, investment performance simulation, ESG automatic reporting, and public data-linked risk analysis. “Ultimately, DNK will evolve beyond PMS into an AI-based operational infrastructure platform, and become a trustworthy partner for both PMCs and landlords amidst a shrinking workforce and increasingly complex rental operation environment.”
Regarding the Asian market expansion strategy, CEO Kim In-song presented a clear vision. “The Asia Pacific region is a market with high potential, with PMS distribution not active compared to regions such as North America and Europe, but residential real estate value is among the highest.”
According to the analysis, China, Japan, Korea, and Australia ranked 1st, 3rd, 8th, and 10th respectively among the top 10 countries in residential real estate value announced by Savills in 2023, and it is analyzed that conquering the Asia-Pacific region will directly lead to a leap forward as a global ranking company.
Structural changes are also taking place in the Korean market. As the monthly rental market grows as a side effect of the jeonse system, monthly rent collection, housing maintenance, communication between landlords and tenants, and contract changes are becoming more frequent. These changes are further highlighting the need for PMS, and DNK has already proactively identified this trend and developed solutions.
We are also seeking opportunities in the areas of public housing and urban complex projects. “The government’s expansion of urban complex projects and the permission of private participation will bring about qualitative and quantitative turning points in the rental housing industry. In order to attract private participation in urban complex projects, securing business feasibility is key, and to this end, PMS-based automation technology that can efficiently operate large-scale housing complexes is essential.”
DNK aims to become the No. 1 PMS market in the Asia Pacific region by 2028. Based on the growth momentum of securing 25,000 households in just 7 months since the product launch, DNK plans to continue its strategy of providing solutions that the market truly needs in a timely manner.
Kim In-song, CEO, pointed out that the biggest turning point in DNK’s growth process was “when we started to position ourselves as an ‘operational partner’ that actually contributes to our customers’ operational performance, rather than a simple ‘function provider.’” “As we started to receive feedback from customers that ‘vacancy rates decreased after introduction,’ ‘complaints were responded to faster,’ and ‘reporting became easier,’ the value we provide was recognized as more than just software, and that became a turning point that accelerated our growth.”
DNK achieved the feat of securing 25,000 households in just 7 months since its product launch.
The industry is paying attention to whether the future of the Asian PMS market depicted by CEO Kim In-song will become a reality.
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