On the 4th of August, ‘K Cube Ventures’ a specialist in mobile, internet and special technology investments, revealed that it had invested into ‘Brat Village’, an O2O (online to offline) home care service provider. A key member in the ‘Brat Village’ startup is Mr. Sung-Min Park who was a founding member of ‘Easy Taxi’ and previous to this of ‘Limo Taxi’.
‘Doctor House’ developed by 'Brat Villlage' is a mobile service that connects home care service providers to its users. Users are provided with an easy and simplified way to specify their requirements from which a list of most competitive nearby businesses is provided. At the click of a button, users are introduced to all certified experts registered in Korea.
Services offered range from repairs, installations, frequently required home services and even interior products. In order to service high operational demands created by an O2O service, a core team selected from ‘Easy Taxi’ staff who had efficiently worked together was formed. Currently, this special operational team is utilising their previous experience in O2O and applying this to the operation of home care service provider ‘Doctor House’.
Dealing with varying range of customer requests, it connects its user to a reputable business and a standardized pricing structure. At the end each transaction, a customer can provide an appraisal of the service provider. In this way, the level of service is improved as the customer feedback is the bloodline for future business profits. It is in the best interest of a service provider to strive for positive appraisals.
A major update to ‘Doctor House’ is expected to be carried out during October. Currently, users are limited to a single way of engaging service providers whereby works are carried out following quotation. The updated version will provide users with more choices for engaging services and will improve the shopping experience. This is expected bring significant improvements to a market environment that is accustomed to inconsistent prices and unforeseen additional charges.
Aside from expanding through stabilization of a sustainable operation and increasing the extent of offered services; there are plans to attract follow up investments in order to react to the rapidly growing home care market in Korea. Bang Sung Min of Brat Village said their ambition was "not to be a simple broker but to become a total home care solution provider catering for all the problems associated with home care in the quickest and easiest manner".
Jung Shin Ah, the partner at K Cube Ventures that led this investment said Brat Village “has the team with both knowledge and experience required for a O2O home care business”. He added that they were "hopeful in delivering an innovative way to bridge gap between users and service providers with a seamless O2O platform".