NanumVitamin Raises Pre-Series A Bridge to Expand Digital Welfare Payment Network for Underserved Children

NanumVitamin, a South Korean digital welfare payment infrastructure startup, has raised a pre-Series A bridge round from impact investment firm MYSC.

The investment follows NanumVitamin’s participation in MetLife Inclusion Plus 7.0, a financial inclusion and inclusive healthcare investment program jointly launched in 2024 by MetLife Foundation and MYSC. The funding came after a structured incubation process and subsequent due diligence under the program.

Founded in 2023, NanumVitamin operates Nabiyam, a digital welfare payment platform designed to help children at risk of food insecurity and others falling through the cracks of the social safety net to access meals and essential resources at local stores — without the stigma typically associated with public assistance. Built on a network of approximately 60,000 local merchants nationwide, Nabiyam has expanded its public meal card and mobile meal voucher infrastructure in partnership with multiple local governments and institutions, including Gyeonggi Province, Incheon, Wonju in Gangwon Province, and the Seoul districts of Gwanak, Gangseo, and Yeongdeungpo. Cumulative users have surpassed 30,000 children.

What sets Nabiyam apart is its ability to consolidate fragmented welfare resources — previously siloed across different systems — into a single, unified payment experience. Municipal child meal cards, corporate CSR budgets, voluntary merchant discounts, and individual and institutional donations are all woven into a single flow of mobile meal vouchers, digital coupons, and meal card transactions. Users access support without stigma, while local governments and companies can monitor disbursement in real time at the transaction level.

The latest funding is notable for signaling NanumVitamin’s evolution beyond a welfare app into a social fintech model — one that connects, disburses, reconciles, and verifies the flow of public budgets and private resources through data. The company has been broadening its service scope to include isolated and reclusive youth and middle-aged single-person households, while deepening ties with commercial food brands such as Bon Dosirak and Hansot Dosirak, and gaining selection into Shinhan Financial Group’s impact incubating program.

“Public budgets, corporate social contributions, and the goodwill of local merchants already exist throughout society — they just haven’t been connected through a single payment experience and data structure,” said Hayeon Kim, CEO of NanumVitamin. “We are building a welfare payment infrastructure that transforms social value into sustainable economic value.”

NanumVitamin plans to use the proceeds to expand its online payment network for municipal child meal cards, upgrade its welfare payment data-based settlement and reporting system, strengthen corporate CSR disbursement reporting, and develop a matching infrastructure that connects idle food and resources from restaurants and food companies to those in need.