※ This is an article written by Ram Lee, CEO of venture capital TBT Partners, on why she invested in a startup Shopl.
TBT invested 1 billion won in a startup called Shopl in October 2019. Shopl is so-called ‘B2B SaaS’ company — provides software services for business on a monthly basis. Shopl is an abbreviation for store employees, Shop-People. There are countless retail stores all over the world. Many store employees work in shifts at home appliance stores, cosmetic stores, and clothing stores, etc. However, these retail stores struggle to communicate effectively between the employees. It is difficult to check when employees go into work or leave, and whether the stores and investors are being managed correctly. Employees must also have a lot of conversations through personal messengers in the process of receiving and reporting exactly what they need to do for the day.
Are you aware of the potential of the SaaS market?
Shopl is a software that helps schedules and tasks be easily managed between store employees and the headquarter by solving these problems. For example, it confirms the employee’s attendance by combining unique Wi-Fi information near the store and face verification. Shopl’s targeted market is larger than expected. It is not only Korea’s problem to have these store management problems. It is common in all countries. SaaS for work such as Slack already exists, but it has been only focused on indoor office jobs. The potential market for Shopl is huge as more people worldwide work outside the office than those who only work inside the office.
A startup created by someone from e-Samsung…Slack for blue collars
Shopl’s founder Jun Lee is from an online marketing company Pengtai, that started as ‘e-Samsung’ in the past. After establishing Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Korea corporations, he established overseas corporations and worked as the first corporate president for 11 years, taking charge of running Samsung Electronics’ distribution agencies in these countries. In the process, he started a business to solve the difficulties he faced while communicating with store employees and managing store operations.
Shopl’s vision, as per CEO Jun Lee, is to become a ‘Slack for blue collars’. Shopl’s service is faithful to its purposes without any excessiveness. With Shopl, it is possible to manage attendance and schedules for store employees, and easy to give clear work instructions and report results. When I interviewed services users in the field and managers who were introduced to use it, they were all satisfied with Shopl.
Models with payment between $5 to 10 per user; Applied to overseas branches of Samsung Electronics
It also seemed to have sufficient potential to expand this service globally. With his excellent sales skills, CEO Lee has already had Samsung Electronics Hong Kong, Mexico, and India subsidiaries be introduced to Shopl on a trial basis. Even recently, until the moment right before COVID-19, he was doing sales all over the world. Shopl’s revenue model is receiving about $5 to 10 per user per month. Up to 10 store employees and the first three months are free to try out the service before making a purchase decision. Considering the cost that the service reduces and the work efficiency it increases, the price is quite competitive.
The investment principle of TBT is local talent going global
The most important investment principle of TBT is ‘local talent going global’. This is to see if the founders from Korea have the ability to advance into the global market. Along with the market size of the startup item, motivation, service production, and market capability of a founder are important. In all these respects, Shopl fit TBT’s investment direction. We look forward to the day when store employees around the world use the Shopl app.
/Ram Lee, CEO of TBT Partners
