Allink is a startup that develops e-document (e-receipt) solutions that use NFC tags. It was founded in October 2019 by CEO Kim Kyung Dong (44).
"There is a demand for e-documents for paper saving as well as safety and efficiency in storage and management, which has resulted in various solutions for issuing e-documents in the market. While paper does not require a separate procedure for issuing and receiving, existing e-document solutions require prior procedures such as app installation, registration, and login, making it difficult to spread. We recognized this and developed a unique technology that makes it easy to receive e-documents face-to-face without any prior procedures and without entering information every time."
Allink's Mobile e-Receipt is a solution that uses NFC tags to receive documents from other devices on your smartphone. You can easily receive any paper documents such as receipts, contracts, certificates, civil documents, etc. on your smartphone with a touch of an NFC Tag.
"The biggest advantage of the solution is that it doesn't require any up-front steps. Currently, in order to receive e-documents, users need to install an app, sign up, log in, and provide personal information such as the recipient's email or phone number. Our technology is differentiated and competitive in that it applies the traditional issuance process of paper documents at the counter and issues electronic documents without the recipient's information."
The company's e-document issuance solution can replace any existing paper document in a face-to-face environment. Among them, we are initially targeting the receipt market, as it is used most often and commonly.
"Traditional e-receipts are cumbersome: Users need to install an app, sign up, log in, and enter personal information, and merchants have to develop an app or build a separate solution. This limits the adoption of e-receipts to large organizations. To address this and make it easy for both consumers and merchants to participate, we positioned ourselves on an e-receipt model."
To educate consumers, Allink is initially expanding to convenience stores and coffee shops that are easily accessible. We are also leveraging Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute (KEITI)'s incentive program for carbon neutral practices to provide KRW 100 cash per e-receipt to encourage consumers to use the e-receipts.
"The advantage of a startup is that you can quickly turn an idea into a business in response to the market environment," said CEO Kim. "After starting a business, I feel rewarded in the process of creating synergy by connecting business items around me with good companies through my personal network."
Allink has adjusted its workforce to the required number of people for e-document services. "By streamlining our workforce, we expect to turn profitable sooner as we expand our sales. To prove it, we are aiming to turn to surplus for the first time this year."
"There is a lot of interest in sustainable growth and development due to the global trend of environmental protection, and there is also a lot of interest in e-documents and e-receipts," said CEO Kim. "We launched e-receipts for the first time at 7-Eleven, which is the No. 1 convenience store brand in the world. The reason is to expand overseas as well as in Korea. Based on this, we will expand our service market from Japan to the U.S. and Southeast Asia," he added. "Our goal is to expand our service not only to receipts, but also to paper documents in the face-to-face market, such as certificates, prescriptions, and civil documents."
Founded: October 2019
Key business areas: E-document (electronic receipt) solutions using NFC Tag
Achievements: Won the Presidential Award for Mobile Technology in the 2022 Baby Unicorn program. Won the Innovation Award at the CES 2023. Won the No. 1 in the Fintech Category at the 2022 GITEX. Selected for the 2024 Deep Tech Incubator Project for Startup. Expanded e-receipt service through contracts with 7-Eleven and Ediya.
reporter jinho lee
jinho2323@hankyung.com
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