Mintit aims to tap Korea’s second-hand mobile phone market

Mintit Chief Executive Ha Seong-mun

Mintit, a Seoul-based startup that incorporates artificial intelligence (AI) into second-hand phone deals, recently announced its plan to sell refurbished digital gadgets.

“We purchase mobile phones in various conditions and primarily export them to developing countries,” Mintit Chief Executive Ha Seong-mun said in a recent interview with Maeil Business Newspaper. “Our next goal is to refurbish used phones, such as those with cracked screens, and make them available to South Korean consumers.”

The goal will increase the recycling rate of unused old devices, he added. “During my time at SK networks co.’s mobile handset distribution business, I realized that Korea produces more than 10 million used mobile phones a year, but only a small percentage of these are recycled.”

Mintit, which was founded as a SK networks in-house venture, has built a nationwide network of around 6,600 automated teller machines (ATMs). Partnering with three major Korean telecommunications companies—SK telecom Co., KT Corp., and LG Uplus Corp.—Mintit has ATMs in more than 5,600 dealerships and achieved all of this within the five years since the company was founded.