Bucketplace (Ohou!)
Ohouse: Korea's biggest home interior app, content plus a 400-contractor renovation marketplace.
On the record
Checkpoint: FY2026 annual filing, showing whether the loss was one-time reinvestment or ongoing margin erosion
The call
Ohouse still leads Korean home content-commerce, but it swung back to a loss funding offline stores and AI/global bets during a housing downturn, with no new funding round since 2022.
Bucketplace runs Ohouse, a website and app where Korean homeowners see real interior design photos, connect with vetted contractors, and buy furniture and services. It is hard to copy because it has 11 years of real photos and customer reviews specific to Korean homes, plus 400 contractors with real accountability and the ability to deliver and install things in person (not just ship boxes). The main risk is that AI tools could let people design rooms and preview them without needing Bucketplace's photos, and the company lost money in 2025 after a rare profitable year in 2024, spending heavily to expand physical showrooms while Korea's housing market is cooling.
Why
01
AI pressure: Generative interior-design/AR visualization tools. AI can generate room mockups and cut into Ohouse's content-discovery layer, but can't install a kitchen or vet a contractor. Could AI do the core job? Unlikely.
02
Bigger players: Coupang. Korea's e-commerce giant could push into home content-commerce someday but has shipped nothing that takes share from Ohouse yet. Could a giant copy it? Probably.
03
What protects it. 11 years of Korean interior UGC plus ~400 vetted contractors and physical delivery/installation/showrooms that AI or a marketplace listing can't replicate.
What would change this call
Bucketplace's FY2026 filing (expected ~April 2027) shows operating loss widening further. Would suggest offline/AI spending is margin erosion, not disciplined reinvestment.
Coupang or Naver launches a home content-commerce feature with contractor booking. Would show a dominant incumbent finally targeting Bucketplace's core marketplace.
Archisketch completes or withdraws its planned H2 2026 KOSDAQ IPO. Would signal Korean investor appetite for proptech, indirectly affecting Bucketplace's funding options.
Coupang or Naver launches a home content-commerce feature with contractor booking. Would show a dominant incumbent finally targeting Bucketplace's core marketplace.
Archisketch completes or withdraws its planned H2 2026 KOSDAQ IPO. Would signal Korean investor appetite for proptech, indirectly affecting Bucketplace's funding options.
Key numbers
- FY2025 revenue ₩321.5B, up 11.7% YoY
- FY2025 operating loss ₩14.7B after FY2024's first profit
- Interior-construction revenue up 3.5x YoY in 2025
Named risks
- FY2025 operating loss of KRW14.7 billion amid capital-intensive offline expansion into Korean housing downturn.
- No new equity raised since May 2022 Series D, valuation unvalidated by any market transaction since then.
- Korean construction and housing slump could pressure the interior-construction segment cited as next growth engine.
- Coupang or Naver could ship a competing home content-commerce product, eroding distribution moat.
- Korea Fair Trade Commission corrective action over delivery surcharge practices signals ongoing regulatory scrutiny.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Hanssem | gaining on | Hanssem reported declining profits amid housing slump and platform shift, Feb 2026 |
| Hyundai Livart | gaining on | Hyundai Livart profits declined amid Korean construction slowdown, Feb 2026 |
| Coupang | contesting | Dominant Korean e-commerce platform could enter home content-commerce but has shipped no rival product as of 2026 |
| Zigbang | contesting | Korean proptech rival at approx $1.8B valuation, over $70M revenue in 2024, expanding into smart-home IoT |
| Archisketch | contesting | Pursuing KOSDAQ tech listing in H2 2026, could refocus investor attention onto interior-tech peers |
Questions people ask
- Is Bucketplace (Ohouse) profitable in 2026?
- No. Bucketplace's FY2025 filing with Korea's FSS, released April 14, 2026, showed an operating loss of KRW14.7 billion and a net loss of KRW9.3 billion, reversing FY2024's first ever operating profit of KRW570 million, despite revenue rising 11.7% to KRW321.5 billion.
- Who owns Bucketplace and does it have investors?
- Bucketplace is privately held, founded July 2014 in Seoul by CEO Seungjae (Jay) Lee. It has not raised new equity since a $182 million Series D closed May 2022, led by SoftBank Ventures Asia, at a reported valuation near $1.4 to 1.6 billion.
- Could AI replace Ohouse's business?
- AI threatens Ohouse's content curation and design visualization layer, but not its ~400 vetted contractor network with real liability, physical installation, delivery and showrooms. Bucketplace itself said in April 2026 it is building AI tools for space design and cost comparison rather than being displaced by them.
- Is Bucketplace laying off employees in 2026?
- No layoffs are reported. Revelio Labs estimated 741 employees worldwide as of March 2026, up from 639 in 2023, with about 88% of staff in South Korea and smaller offices in Singapore and Vietnam.
- Who is Bucketplace's biggest competitor?
- Legacy furniture giants Hanssem and Hyundai Livart both reported declining profits amid Korea's housing slump as of February 2026, suggesting share moving toward Ohouse. Proptech rival Zigbang, valued near $1.8 billion with over $70 million in 2024 revenue, is a contesting adjacent player.
- Is it risky to work at Bucketplace right now?
- Bucketplace posted a KRW14.7 billion operating loss in FY2025, its first loss after a first ever profit in FY2024, tied to spending on offline lounges, global expansion and AI, and has not raised new equity since May 2022, though revenue kept growing 11.7% year over year as of April 2026.
Timeline
- 2026-04-14FY2025 filing: revenue KRW321.5B (up 11.7%), operating loss KRW14.7B, net loss KRW9.3B
- 2026-03Opened Ohouse Interior Pangyo Lounge showroom
- 2026-03Revelio Labs estimates 741 employees worldwide, up from 639 in 2023
- 2025-10-08Named among 13 Korean retailers in KFTC corrective action over delivery surcharges
- 2025-10Launched Ohouse Kitchen remodeling brand
- 2025-07Opened first offline showroom, Ohouse Bukchon
- 2025-03-19Made strategic investment of over $50M in US furnishings startup InHouse
- 2024-11Launched proprietary furniture brand Ohouse Layer
- 2024-10Expanded e-commerce operations into Japan
- 2022-05-08Closed $182M Series D led by SoftBank Ventures Asia at $1.4 to 1.6B valuation
Revision history
30 July 2026
First assessed. Defensible for now. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Ohouse Surpasses 300 Billion Won in Revenue (2026-04-14)
- Ohouse grows revenue but posts loss as Korea expansion accelerates (2026-04-14)
- Korean Super App Bucketplace Backs InHouse to Reinvent the Home Furnishing Experience (2025-03-19)
- South Korea's OHouse lands $182M to add AR to home improvement app (2022-05-08)
- Bucketplace Stock Price, Funding, Valuation, Revenue & Financial Statements (2026-04-14)
- Who Owns Bucketplace Company? (2025-07-11)
- About Us
- Ohouse tops 300 bn won in revenue on construction growth (2026-04-15)
- Bucketplace Number of Employees 2026
- Korea Housing Tech: How a Weird Rental System Built a $1.2B Industry (2026-04-19)
- Housing slump and platform shift hit Korea's Hanssem and Hyundai Livart profits (2026-02-10)
- Archisketch revives KOSDAQ IPO bid after resolving Urbanbase legal risks (2026-05-06)