SEOUL, South Korea , Sept. 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- South Korean startup MAS9 has made a rapid entry into the U.S. Taekwondo market, onboarding more than 100 schools within a month of launching its paid SaaS platform. The company's solution is the first business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) digital management system designed specifically for martial arts schools in the United States.
The platform replaces manual administrative tasks—such as tuition collection, overdue payment reminders, and attendance tracking—with a fully automated system. Parents and students also benefit from real-time access to class schedules, training progress, and instructor feedback via MAS9's dedicated mobile app and website.
Building on this momentum, MAS9 will introduce a one-click e-commerce feature in January 2026, giving school owners a new revenue opportunity. Without carrying inventory, owners will be able to launch online shops and sell uniforms, equipment, and merchandise directly to students and parents through the platform. The U.S. Taekwondo merchandise market is estimated at around $400 million, and MAS9's upcoming feature is designed to help school operators capture this demand more effectively..
"MAS9 provides both operational efficiency and financial upside for school owners, which explains the strong adoption we've seen in such a short time," said Dongho Ryoo, CEO of MAS9 USA. He added that the company has been able to accelerate adoption by rapidly incorporating feedback from U.S. school operators, leveraging more than two decades of local market experience.
Looking forward, MAS9 plans to integrate artificial intelligence into its system, with features such as student retention analytics, personalized training content, and financial forecasting tools.
Sang-Youb Lee, CEO of MAS9 said the company's long-term ambition is to build a global Taekwondo business platform. "With 700,000 schools, 1.5 million instructors, and 80 million practitioners worldwide, Taekwondo represents a massive opportunity. Our early success in the U.S. validates our strategy and lays the groundwork for international expansion."
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
MAS9 Brings Digital Transformation to U.S. Martial Arts Schools With AI-Powered SaaS Platform
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LONDON, Jan. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Markel Insurance, the insurance operation within Markel Group Inc. (NYSE:MKL), today announced the promotion of Ben House to Director – Energy & Power, effective immediately.
In his newly expanded role, House will oversee Markel's Renewable Energy and Power portfolio across the organisation's International division, alongside his existing responsibilities as head of Markel's Upstream, Midstream and Downstream Energy team. This strategic move unites these areas under a single Energy & Power team, enhancing ease of trading for customers through a more holistic underwriting approach.
Leading this newly unified team, House will focus on managing an integrated group of experienced underwriters, analysts and risk engineers – driving product innovation, nurturing long-term customer relationships and optimising underwriting processes.
The convergence of Markel's Energy teams reflects the organisation's commitment to supporting energy clients with tailored coverage and providing more effective identification, mitigation and transfer of risks throughout the entire value chain – from production and transportation through to processing, generation and distribution.
House is based in London and will report to Rohan Davies, Managing Director – London Market.
Davies commented: "The global power sector is experiencing significant growth, primarily driven by renewables and the rising electricity demand, which is expected to increase by 25% by 2030. Concurrently, heightened geopolitical risks – from trade wars to advanced cyber-attacks – threaten critical infrastructure, further underscores the important role of insurance in helping these businesses transfer and mitigate the associated risks.
"Our clients' risks, capital structures and technologies are increasingly converging. Combining Energy and Power will allow us to underwrite portfolios more holistically, use our specialist expertise more efficiently and provide a simpler service, more coordinated experience for brokers and clients – all while better positioning us to support the energy transition across the value chain."
He continued: "Ben's experience of delivering bespoke solutions for clients across the energy sector, together with his strong track record of leading global underwriting teams, makes him ideally suited for this consolidated role. His expertise will play an important part in helping to elevate our leadership profile across the renewable, traditional energy and power generation sectors."
House said: "I'm delighted to step into my new position as Director of Energy & Power at Markel International. Bringing together our Energy and Power underwriters, analysts and risk engineers will further strengthen our technical underwriting capabilities, enhance innovation and enable us to make even more effective and empowered underwriting decisions – reaffirming clarity of coverage, particularly for complex risks."
House started his career at Markel as an upstream underwriter in the Marine & Energy Division, progressing into new energy markets and providing lead capabilities across the upstream and midstream market. In 2018, he was promoted to Head of Upstream – a position he held for five years – before progressing to Director of Energy in 2023. In the latter position, House has played a leading role in developing bespoke energy insurance solutions for clients and building a strong-performing global P&L across multiple international underwriting teams.
About Markel Insurance
We are Markel Insurance, a leading global specialty insurer with a truly people-first approach. As the insurance operations within the Markel Group Inc. (NYSE: MKL), we leverage a broad array of capabilities and expertise to create intelligent solutions for the most complex specialty insurance needs. However, it is our people – and the deep, valued relationships they develop with colleagues, brokers and clients – that differentiates us worldwide.
LONDON, Jan. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Markel Insurance, the insurance operation within Markel Group Inc. (NYSE:MKL), today announced the promotion of Ben House to Director – Energy & Power, effective immediately.
In his newly expanded role, House will oversee Markel's Renewable Energy and Power portfolio across the organisation's International division, alongside his existing responsibilities as head of Markel's Upstream, Midstream and Downstream Energy team. This strategic move unites these areas under a single Energy & Power team, enhancing ease of trading for customers through a more holistic underwriting approach.
Leading this newly unified team, House will focus on managing an integrated group of experienced underwriters, analysts and risk engineers – driving product innovation, nurturing long-term customer relationships and optimising underwriting processes.
The convergence of Markel's Energy teams reflects the organisation's commitment to supporting energy clients with tailored coverage and providing more effective identification, mitigation and transfer of risks throughout the entire value chain – from production and transportation through to processing, generation and distribution.
House is based in London and will report to Rohan Davies, Managing Director – London Market.
Davies commented: "The global power sector is experiencing significant growth, primarily driven by renewables and the rising electricity demand, which is expected to increase by 25% by 2030. Concurrently, heightened geopolitical risks – from trade wars to advanced cyber-attacks – threaten critical infrastructure, further underscores the important role of insurance in helping these businesses transfer and mitigate the associated risks.
"Our clients' risks, capital structures and technologies are increasingly converging. Combining Energy and Power will allow us to underwrite portfolios more holistically, use our specialist expertise more efficiently and provide a simpler service, more coordinated experience for brokers and clients – all while better positioning us to support the energy transition across the value chain."
He continued: "Ben's experience of delivering bespoke solutions for clients across the energy sector, together with his strong track record of leading global underwriting teams, makes him ideally suited for this consolidated role. His expertise will play an important part in helping to elevate our leadership profile across the renewable, traditional energy and power generation sectors."
House said: "I'm delighted to step into my new position as Director of Energy & Power at Markel International. Bringing together our Energy and Power underwriters, analysts and risk engineers will further strengthen our technical underwriting capabilities, enhance innovation and enable us to make even more effective and empowered underwriting decisions – reaffirming clarity of coverage, particularly for complex risks."
House started his career at Markel as an upstream underwriter in the Marine & Energy Division, progressing into new energy markets and providing lead capabilities across the upstream and midstream market. In 2018, he was promoted to Head of Upstream – a position he held for five years – before progressing to Director of Energy in 2023. In the latter position, House has played a leading role in developing bespoke energy insurance solutions for clients and building a strong-performing global P&L across multiple international underwriting teams.
About Markel Insurance
We are Markel Insurance, a leading global specialty insurer with a truly people-first approach. As the insurance operations within the Markel Group Inc. (NYSE: MKL), we leverage a broad array of capabilities and expertise to create intelligent solutions for the most complex specialty insurance needs. However, it is our people – and the deep, valued relationships they develop with colleagues, brokers and clients – that differentiates us worldwide.
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
Markel promotes Ben House to Director of Energy & Power
