The accommodation market has long been divided into two extremes: short-term stays of a few nights through platforms like Airbnb, or long-term leases spanning a year or more. This binary choice leaves a significant gap for travelers, digital nomads, and professionals who need flexible housing for periods ranging from one week to two months. Traditional booking platforms charge premium rates for extended stays, while landlords struggle with vacancy periods between long-term contracts.

LiveAnywhere is addressing this overlooked segment with a specialized platform that optimizes pricing and services specifically for mid-term stays. By focusing on the 1-week to 2-month rental period, the company has identified a sweet spot that offers economic efficiency for guests while helping hosts monetize otherwise vacant properties. With approximately 16,000 listings across Korea and expanding into Asian markets like Chiang Mai and Bali, LiveAnywhere is pioneering a new category in the accommodation industry.

The market opportunity is substantial. In Seoul alone, monthly rental transactions represent 60% of all rental deals, with contracts of six months or less showing significant growth—jumping from 0.37% to 1.8% over the past three years. Meanwhile, the foreign tourist accommodation market outside hotels reaches approximately 6.2 trillion won, indicating strong demand for home-like stays among international visitors.

LiveAnywhere has demonstrated impressive traction, with 2.4 million cumulative app downloads and a 44% CAGR in transaction volume over the past four years. The company’s recent second quarter saw 8.2 billion won in transactions, marking 32% year-over-year growth. Perhaps most notably, marketing efficiency has improved dramatically, with ROAS climbing from 868% in 2022 to 2,383% currently.

As part of the 2025 Tourism Global Challenge program organized by Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization, and operated by CNTtech, LiveAnywhere is accelerating its global expansion efforts. The program has provided crucial support in refining their international market strategy, improving investor presentations, and enhancing their service for foreign customers.

We sat down with the LiveAnywhere team to discuss their approach to filling this market gap, their competitive advantages, and their ambitious plans for global expansion.

What problem is your team solving in the accommodation market?

LiveAnywhere is a platform that enables users to rent homes for periods between one week and two months. We offer better value than booking multiple individual nights, yet more flexibility than committing to a full year lease—making it economically efficient for both guests and hosts.

The experience of actually “living somewhere” requires different considerations than a short hotel stay. That’s why we’ve built comprehensive search capabilities with diverse filtering options tailored to individual preferences, making it easy for users to find accommodations that truly fit their lifestyle needs.

From the host perspective, there’s real value here too. Property owners face common challenges: weekday vacancies when only weekends get booked, or gap periods between monthly lease contracts. Our platform helps them monetize these otherwise vacant periods and earn additional income.

How does your approach differ from existing solutions?

Price competitiveness for the 1-week to 2-month range is at the core of what we do. We connect customers with properties that offer the most competitive pricing and best features specifically for this duration.

Our pricing structure measures rates separately for one week, two weeks, and one month, ensuring that the longer guests stay, the more economical the overall cost becomes. This creates clear value that improves with commitment length.

As a platform company, we focus on making the experience easy and convenient for both sides—guests making bookings and hosts receiving them. We work continuously to improve and manage service quality for everyone using the platform.

What gives you a competitive edge, and what are your key technical advantages?

Our specialization in short-term rentals is our core strength. We’re completely focused on the 1-week to 1-month segment, and this focus drives everything from our product features to our marketing approach.

Think about how booking behavior changes with duration. Someone staying a week or more won’t make a snap decision like they would for a 2-night hotel stay. But they won’t deliberate for months like they would for a year-long lease either. And the search criteria are different too. When booking a few nights, travelers focus on capacity, location, and aesthetics. But for week-long or longer stays, square footage matters. Having a washer-dryer matters. People want amenities that support actual living, not just sleeping.

This insight about how duration fundamentally changes what people need drives our entire platform design. We’ve developed filters and search options that make it easy for customers to find properties based on these living-focused criteria. For hosts, our technical advantages include automated management and settlement processes that make operating mid-term rentals straightforward without excessive administrative work.

Can you describe your current product offering?

We currently have approximately 16,000 properties available—officetel units, standalone houses, and apartments—for short-term rental. These listings span all of South Korea, with expansion into select Asian locations including Chiang Mai, Thailand, and Bali, Indonesia.

Our inventory is strategically concentrated where it matters most: approximately 3,000 properties in Seoul and 3,000 in Jeju, optimized for both residential and travel purposes.

For user experience, we offer map-based searching and subway station-based search functionality. We’re planning to expand this with broader location searches using district and neighborhood names.

On the internationalization front, we provide full service in Korean, English, Japanese, and Chinese, with support for international payment methods.

Who are your target customers, and how big is the market?

We’re targeting two overlapping segments. First, the monthly rental market for contracts of three months or less. In Seoul, monthly rentals represent 60% of all rental transactions, and short-term contracts of six months or less are growing. Second, the extended-stay travel market, where week-long or longer experiential travel is on the rise. LiveAnywhere targets both of these markets.

The numbers are compelling. Conservative estimates put Seoul’s monthly rental market at 21 trillion won, with aggressive projections reaching 45 trillion won. Critically, contracts of six months or less have grown from 0.37% to 1.8% over just the past three years—this is an emerging market that continues to expand.

For tourism, LiveAnywhere’s properties also target foreign visitors. Out of the 20 trillion won total foreign tourist accommodation market, non-hotel accommodations account for approximately 6.2 trillion won.

Our core customers are travelers who embrace extended travel lifestyles, residents who prefer shorter contract commitments, and foreigners visiting Korea who prefer home-like accommodations over hotels.

What’s your business model?

We operate on a platform transaction fee model.

What achievements has your team accomplished so far?

LiveAnywhere has reached 2.4 million cumulative app downloads and maintained a 44% CAGR in transaction value over the past four years—showing consistent growth momentum.

Our most recent second quarter generated approximately 8.2 billion won in transaction volume, representing 32% year-over-year growth.

Marketing efficiency has improved dramatically. ROAS increased from 868% in 2022 to over 1,715% in 2024, and currently stands at 2,383%.

On the international front, we prepared and launched our service for overseas customers in just one month this past August. Already, foreign customers account for 5% of total revenue.

Financially, we’re approaching break-even. With continued revenue growth and operational efficiency improvements, we expect to achieve BEP as early as Q4 this year or Q1 next year at the latest.

What makes your team uniquely capable?

Our team members bring deep expertise across accommodation, real estate, and global marketing. This breadth is crucial for operating a cross-functional platform business.

What’s particularly important is our collective experience with platform businesses. We understand the unique challenges of building a two-sided marketplace in a new category, and we’re systematically addressing these challenges.

Most team members have previously worked with me and proven their capabilities. I’ve essentially brought together the best professionals in each domain based on direct working experience. This existing trust and proven collaboration reduces execution risk significantly.

What are you doing for international expansion, and what results have you seen?

As mentioned, we’ve achieved full readiness for international customers with multi-language support and international payment capabilities. As one of the few platforms offering housing for 1-week to 2-month stays, we’ve achieved strong positioning that’s immediately generating revenue.

But we’re going beyond functional readiness. We’re working to become a service that foreign customers truly trust by attending to details that match international expectations. For example, foreign users expect email confirmations for all transactions—without these, they feel the communication is incomplete. We’re refining details at this level to create genuine comfort for international users.

At the same time, we’re working with foreign influencers and building community-based viral marketing. The goal is creating a virtuous cycle where the service looks customer-friendly, delivers on that promise when people actually use it, and generates positive retention and word-of-mouth growth.

How has the 2025 Tourism Global Challenge program supported your expansion?

This program has been invaluable. Starting with fundamentals like presentation techniques and speech training for engaging with foreign investors, we’ve received practical guidance from specialists across various domains—insights we couldn’t gain elsewhere.

Opportunities like this English-language feature article also represent significant value. The program is helping us build visibility and credibility in international markets, which is essential for attracting both foreign users and potential investors. We’re extremely satisfied with the comprehensive support.

Give us three compelling reasons why investors should back LiveAnywhere.

First, we’re the frontrunner in a sector positioned for significant growth. The domestic housing market’s shift toward monthly rentals is driving growth in the short-term rental segment, and LiveAnywhere has established leadership while maintaining consistent growth momentum.

Second, we’re a healthy, sustainably growing platform business. We’ve achieved continuous revenue growth while managing losses effectively. Despite transaction volumes still around 20-30 billion won, we’re approaching break-even—this financial discipline at an early stage represents compelling investment value.

Third, we’ve secured a second growth engine with massive potential. Foreign visitors to Korea will continue growing, and we’ve built a distinctive service providing housing solutions for both residential and travel purposes. The inbound foreign tourism market represents a sustained growth driver that complements our domestic business—it’s our second axis of growth.