Naver Happybean and KOTRA are working together to support local social economy enterprises seeking to enter overseas markets.

Naver Happybean and KOTRA said on June 4 they will jointly operate a "social solidarity economy pavilion" at Seoul Food 2026, the country’s largest food exhibition, to be held June 9-12 at KINTEX in Ilsan.

The project will include 7 local social economy enterprises whose product viability and growth potential were verified through Naver Happybean’s Empathy Store. The two organisations plan to support local brands in opening overseas sales channels and build a growth model that extends to export linkages, based on domestic consumer response.

As part of the support, KOTRA will arrange one-on-one consultations between social economy enterprises and global buyers through the pavilion. It will also link companies to its online business-to-business platform BuyKorea to underpin practical entry into overseas markets. Naver Happybean will introduce participating companies’ overseas expansion cases through an Empathy Store promotional exhibition, and will run a good-consumption campaign that returns part of exhibition sales proceeds to local communities.

A "one-to-one matching grant" programme, described as a shared-growth model linking company growth with giving back to local communities, will also be implemented. If a participating company donates part of its promotional exhibition sales proceeds to a local public-interest group, Happybean will make an additional donation of the same amount. KOTRA employees will also take part in the promotional exhibition voluntarily to support the effort.

Seong-a Jo (조성아), leader of Naver Happybean, said, "We will create a structure in which local companies can grow together with their communities." She added, "We will continue to expand opportunities for local brands to advance globally through cooperation with various partners."

Happybean also operates "Our Neighborhood Crowdfunding" with the Small Enterprise and Market Service, supporting local small merchants that lack opportunities to expand online by helping them widen sales channels.