A practitioner who witnessed the vicious cycle of inefficiency that was repeated every day at the sales site started a business. Managing thousands of contracts in Excel, refreshing internet banking to confirm deposits, and mailing out design change notices one by one in envelopes. Devol Company was started with the determination to change this structural inefficiency into ‘technology.’
CEO Lee Jang-gyu experienced the power of SaaS tools while working in the in-house venture team of a land trust company. After experiencing how tools like Notion, Figma, and Google Workspace could change work efficiency, he became convinced that they could be applied to the distribution industry he was involved in.
“I had the experience of planning various IT products and collaborating with designers and developers in the in-house venture team. In the process, I naturally came into contact with various SaaS tools. I felt how efficiently these technologies could change the inefficiencies of existing industries.”
The distribution industry may look small and complex from the outside, but he believes that this is actually the reason why it has 'less competition and a solid positioning in the early market'. He calculates that it is strategically advantageous to solve problems that he has actually experienced in the area he knows best and to have a high barrier to market entry.
Bunyangol: Data-based control that tracks down to the penny
The competitiveness of Bunyangol lies in its data-based control. The goal of Devol's first product, Bunyangol, is not simple computerization but rather a 'transformation of market norms.'
Existing ERP or Excel-based systems had many limitations in tracking and managing complex cash flows such as unpaid amounts or advance payments that occurred after the termination of a sales contract. In particular, these items were often omitted from the system or relied on human memory. Therefore, it was easy for them to lead to risks.
“We designed it so that all additional payment items other than the subscription price, such as unpaid fees, advance payments, and settlement fees that remain even after cancellation, are automatically linked and recorded in the system, and can be tracked without omission down to the last penny.”
Rather than completely changing the structure or work flow of the existing ERP, it was designed to provide a more intuitive and simple interface while maintaining the existing process similarly. By automating repetitive tasks that were previously handled manually, customers can experience a reduction in work and increased accuracy.
“Many users are in their 30s or 40s and are familiar with IT, so there was no resistance to the technology itself. Rather, there were many reactions like, ‘Why did you make this now?’”
In fact, when there were multiple cancellations of subscriptions, one client company was able to quickly identify the amount to be collected without omission thanks to the subscription service and proactively respond to the collection of debt.
Devol Company started from the problem awareness of a practitioner who witnessed the inefficiency of the distribution business. It is now growing into an operational innovation platform that crosses industries. CEO Lee Jang-gyu says, “The strategy of winning with practicality rather than flashiness and from the perspective of the field rather than technology is to find and solve ‘a place where the problem is clear but no one has touched it.’”
Billings: Universal solutions that start from your own problems
Cheonggus started from the problems discovered in the process of billing expenses to customers while operating Bunyangol. 'Cheonggus' is the result of expansion into the corporate billing management area.
In business-to-business transactions, the process from issuing invoices to confirming deposits and managing receivables was overly manual and disconnected. In particular, small and medium-sized businesses with insufficient accounting staff were repeatedly experiencing inefficiencies in which CEOs or staff members had to go back and forth between Excel, internet banking, and Hometax to manage.
“I decided that this was not just a problem for the distribution industry, but a common problem faced by almost all industries. I started ‘Cheonggus’ to target a wider market.”
Although it is a competitive market, Devall aims to be “a billing tool that anyone can use, even if they don’t know anything about accounting.” Rather than replacing existing accounting systems, the approach is to make it easier for non-experts to organize billing and collection flows.
The fact that the account linkage, home tax linkage, and payment automation system that had already been established could be utilized while creating Bunyangol also provided a strong driving force for the development of CheongguS.
The way AI and automation technologies are utilized in Cheonggu is a good example of Devol’s technology philosophy. The CEO defines AI as a sidekick who assists practitioners, rather than a grand concept.
It automatically detects and notifies you when receivables are left unattended for a long period of time or tax invoices are not issued, and helps you to collect them without mistakes. It also provides a function that automatically creates invoices by analyzing the information in contracts or transaction-related emails when uploaded.
“Ultimately, what we’re pursuing is AI that helps practitioners reduce the time they spend on sales management and focus only on important decisions.”
An operational innovation platform that fills inefficiencies in the field
The future that Devol dreams of is not a simple solution company. It is an operational innovation platform that finds and solves problems that are clearly inconvenient in the corporate field but that no one has properly looked into.
The company is currently expanding its scope to include collaboration with public institutions by developing a subscription lottery winner review system with the Korea Real Estate Board. “It was an experience that allowed me to see how public data and private technology can be combined to create real work efficiency,” he explains.
In the field, there are still many manual and face-to-face procedures, and the verification of winners is consuming a lot of manpower and time due to the disconnection of information linkage. Devol considered a structure that automates this process while meeting the security accuracy standards required by public institutions.
“What I felt through this collaboration was that public institutions are also actively accepting private technology, and they want partners who can accurately identify and solve problems.”
Devall received a great response at the 2024 Real Estate Trend Show and Proptech Data Pitching Day. In particular, practitioners and construction company officials who have previously worked directly in the distribution business gave feedback that it was a “solution that was really needed,” and in some cases, it led to meetings right away.
As a B2B SaaS startup, his criteria for customer success are clear: not having a lot of features or a high degree of automation, but naturally blending in with the customer’s ‘work rhythm.’
“Our measure of success is when users say, ‘I can never go back to the old way.’”
The most impressive feedback was the story of a construction company manager who printed out thousands of design change notices one by one, put them in envelopes, and sent them to the post office. In Bunyangol, you can attach the notice files at once, and with just one click of a button, the process is automatically completed until they are sent.
“This is the moment when I benefited the most from technology after joining the company.” This customer’s words still remain in his memory. Beyond simple task automation, the experience of changing the customer’s day is the true value that Devol pursues.
Although it started in real estate, Devol ultimately focuses on the structural inefficiencies of work. Devol’s direction is to fill in areas that are repeated but not improved in the field, not limited to industries or business types, with technology.
“In the next two to three years, we plan to expand into a general-purpose platform that automates and connects core business operations flows such as billing and receivables, accounting and reporting.”
CEO Lee Jang-gyu’s last words implicitly reveal Devol’s identity. “Where the problem is clear but no one has touched it. That is our next field.”
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