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| YAP founder and CEO Ahn Kyung-hoon introduces the firm's global strategy in its booth set up at Fira Gran Via convention hall in Barcelona, Thursday, on the sidelines of this year's Mobile World Congress (MWC). / Korea Times photo by Lee Min-hyung |
By Lee Min-hyung
BARCELONA ― YAP, a Korean location-based coupon app operator, is in advanced talks with a group of global IT giants to offer its short-range network technology, dubbed the hybrid beacon, YAP CEO Ahn Kyung-hoon said.
"We are negotiating multiple contracts with five to six global IT and telecom companies to provide our online-to-offline (O2O) commerce platform," Ahn said in an interview on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) here.
The beacon refers to a small hardware device set up at stores, allowing YAP users to get mobile promotional coupons when they enter the shops installed with the company's technology.
In particular, YAP's hybrid beacon takes advantage of ultrasound frequencies, operating even when users turn off their location tracking and Wi-Fi network on their smartphones.
The YAP chief declined to identify the companies it is in talks with.
But it may hold talks with companies including China's big three ― Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent ― and telecom giants in China and Europe.
"Under the YAP Inside partnership strategy, we are going to expand our platform into 20 to 30 countries no later than the end of this year," he said.
For example, the company could attract a massive number of users by teaming up with a messenger service operator which, in return, could rake in profits through commissions generated from YAP's beacon ecosystem, according to Ahn.
He also expressed confidence in the growth potential of its relatively new business model.
"Commissions we can generate differ from each location," he said. "We have so far focused on the local Korean market, signing contracts with companies such as Starbucks Korea and a series of retail giants operating the nation's dominant convenience store chains, including CU and GS25."
But the time is ripe for global expansion, driven mainly by the company's technological expertise, Ahn said.
The company has secured some 70 patents over its location-based network technologies since it was established in June 2013.
For the past three years, the firm has attracted more than 84 billion won ($72.6 million) from renowned investors, including Hong Kong-based department store giant New World Group and some Seoul-based firms such as DS Investment and gaming giant Smilegate.
"My ultimate goal is to partner with Google, which will allow us to do business targeting 80 percent of people across the globe," Ahn said.
More than 4 million users have downloaded the YAP mobile app since it was released in June 2014.
Users can access discount or coupon information for 1.2 million stores across the nation.
In February 2015, the company exported the platform to Vietnam by partnering with the country's internet giant VNG.
The firm has since expanded into other Asian territories, including China and Hong Kong.
"This year's MWC will be a milestone for us to tap into North American and European markets," Ahn said.
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