Korean startup Epikar succeeds in attracting series A investment

Epikar, a car retail digital conversion solution company, said on Thursday that it has succeeded in attracting Series A investment from a number of investors, including the state-run Korea Development Bank.

With the latest investment, the company plans to focus on developing technology and strengthening infrastructure to advance digital solutions for business-to-business (B2B) sales and distribution. Beginning in 2023, it will establish cooperative relationships with auto dealers across the world and actively move into overseas markets.

Epikar is a company that helps auto dealers reduce operating costs by providing data-based digital solutions to areas that they need in the car sales process, such as test drives and after-sales services.

Most notably, BMW Korea and seven official BMW dealers introduced Epikar's service and applied a system that provides mobile services for the entire process from advance bookings to test drives at about 80 dealerships nationwide. Seventy five after-sale service centers across the country also introduced an intelligent management system that allows real-time monitoring of the warehousing and shipping process.

"Due to digitization throughout the economy and the sophistication of mobile technology, many services we use now have been turned into digital, but the auto retail market is slow in embracing it. With efficient and innovative digital solutions, we will try to create a platform that satisfies all participants, including dealers and consumers," said Han Bo-seok, CEO of Epikar.

Write to Jong-Woo Kim at jongwoo@hankyung.com