Currently, only Executive Director Kim Ji-hong is listed as a registered director of The Rise Institute of Design. Director Kim is a former UX designer at Samsung Electronics005930 and has a history of founding the design community platform 'Design Spectrum.' Director Kim is expected to serve as the initial CEO of The Rise Institute of Design.
After establishing The Rise Institute of Design, Toss filed a trademark application for the same name with the Korean Intellectual Property Office on October 30. Designated items for the trademark include advertising material design academies, design education businesses, training in the fields of design, advertising, and communication technology, design field training, web design academies, and fashion design academies.
Regarding the background of establishing The Rise Institute of Design, Toss explained, "It is a corporation aimed at nurturing designers who can contribute to the development of the domestic UI/UX industry." It appears to serve as a specialized design education institution rather than for internal employee training. However, Toss stated, "Specific plans, such as the business commencement date, have not yet been decided."
Toss's design education business is drawing attention because user-friendly UI/UX is considered a key factor in Toss's rapid market growth. The 'easy finance' concept of Toss has influenced not only fintech but also the traditional financial industry. For instance, when Toss Securities introduced a simplified Mobile Trading System (MTS) in 2021, other securities firms followed suit by simplifying their own MTS offerings.
Meanwhile, Toss is expanding into various new businesses to strengthen its platform competitiveness. In October 2022, it acquired the budget phone operator Merchant Korea, renamed it 'Toss Mobile' the following year, and entered the budget phone business. Last April, Toss Mobile absorbed and merged with its subsidiary Asia People, which provides communication and government office services to foreigners residing in Korea.
In 2024, it acquired Taxasoft, which operates the tax platform 'Saveit,' and launched its subsidiary Toss Income to enter tax services such as tax refunds and capital gains tax reporting. In March of this year, it declared its first year of commerce and began expanding the scale of Toss Shopping, which operates as an open market within its platform. In addition, as it views face-pay (facial recognition payment) as a future growth engine, it is also putting effort into distributing its proprietary payment terminal, Toss Front, through its subsidiary Toss Place.
An expansion of its advertising business is also expected. Last October, Toss filed a trademark application under the name 'Toss Stream.' Toss Stream was registered for purposes such as advertising board leasing, advertising brokerage, online advertising space leasing, and brokerage related to advertising time and space leasing. This has led to speculation that Toss might be attempting to launch content feed-type advertisements centered on short-form video content.
While the design education business is unrelated to financial or payment services, it can have the effect of enhancing brand value. An industry insider noted, "It appears to be an attempt to promote Toss's identity rather than a business intended to generate profit."