Interview with Sim Sang-il, CEO of VCSoft
'APL Golf' App Service Providing Pin Location Information
Expansion of Hole-in-One Insurance, Fandom, and Overseas Golf Course Reservations
"I believe the golf market suffers from a severe information imbalance. Only those who know how to choose the right equipment for themselves, how to minimize costs when using practice ranges or playing rounds, and which eateries around golf courses are good can truly enjoy the benefits. I want to contribute to creating a platform where users can share these elements more easily and effectively."
Sim Sang-il, CEO of VCSoft, is explaining the 'APL Golf' app in an interview with Asia Economy. [Photo by Kim Heung-soon]
Sim Sang-il, CEO of VCSoft, said in an interview with Asia Economy on the 23rd, "I think golf has many similarities to ‘travel’ in various ways." He added, "Travel is a special event that occasionally breaks the routine, and even when spending similar amounts of money, a culture has formed to consume reasonably by choosing accommodations, restaurants, and activities that offer good value for money. If the blocked information in the golf market can be communicated smoothly, more people will be able to enjoy the pleasures of golf."
VCSoft is a subsidiary of VC, a golf IT specialist company that manufactures and sells golf distance measuring devices such as the ‘Voice Caddie,’ which holds the number one domestic usage rate, launch monitors, and golf simulators. Established last year, it provides the mobile application (app) ‘APL Golf,’ which offers real-time pin location (APL) information. The app automatically guides users with high-resolution course views, green undulation (course elevation and contours), and real-time pin locations for over 270 golf courses nationwide.
The app also features a ‘Restaurants’ category that introduces eateries frequently visited by golfers or those with parking availability near golf courses, based on T Map Mobility’s ‘T Map Location Information.’ Additionally, users can view information on golf courses that allow no-caddie play, 2-3 player rounds, or night rounds, and share golf course reviews, photos taken with companions, and scorecards with other users through a community function to exchange opinions.
CEO Sim, an expert in platform business, was recruited by VCSoft last year. He explained, "Hardware manufacturers find it difficult to maintain contact with customers after selling products, except for after-sales service (AS) due to malfunctions or product replacement cycles. VCSoft’s role is to maintain steady communication with users connected through Voice Caddie products, reflect their requests, and explore new businesses using the related infrastructure."
The APL Golf app underwent a pilot operation period of about one year and officially launched on the 27th of last month. Within a week, it ranked first in downloads in the sports app category on both major app stores, Google Play Store and Apple Store, receiving a positive response. The current cumulative number of users is 50,000. The first goal is to surpass 500,000 users.
Sim Sang-il, CEO of VCSoft, is explaining the 'APL Golf' app in an interview with Asia Economy. [Photo by Kim Heung-soon]
To achieve this, CEO Sim, who previously handled service access point (SAP) consulting, reward advertising, and fandom marketing at leading domestic portal and gaming companies, is leading the integration of his experience into the APL Golf app. Starting as an SAP consultant, he managed the display advertising (DA) platform business at Naver, and as CEO of Addiscope, a Neowiz subsidiary specializing in ad monetization, he operated the participatory mobile idol app ‘Idol Champ.’ There, he placed popular idol ads in large cafes and integrated fan voting features into competition programs, rapidly increasing users to several million.
VCSoft plans to try various services to maximize the enjoyment of rounds. As a new feature of the APL Golf app, it launched the ‘Voice Caddie Membership’ this month. Users pay 2,000 KRW monthly to subscribe to hole-in-one insurance, which pays 1 million KRW for a hole-in-one on the field and 200,000 KRW for screen golf. CEO Sim emphasized, "Hole-in-one insurance sold by the financial industry is expensive to join, and even if you make a hole-in-one, it takes a long time to receive the insurance payout, and the procedures are complicated. Voice Caddie Membership simplifies the process through reinsurers, allowing golfers to enjoy the joy of a hole-in-one at a low cost."
His vision also includes a ‘fandom service.’ This would arrange fan meetings, voting services, and cheering advertisement events through the app for players active in domestic and international tours. He stressed that the fandom domain has great potential to expand from the ‘place’ of the golf course to the ‘player.’
These services mainly focus on beginners who have just started golf. CEO Sim, who began golf after COVID-19, is realizing one by one the points he felt were lacking or needed attention as a ‘beginner.’ Therefore, the app aims to be a ‘participatory app’ that reflects user opinions and requests as features.
In the second half of this year, they plan to introduce a Japanese golf travel reservation function that allows satisfying rounds at low cost. CEO Sim said, "Compared to the domestic golf population, infrastructure is lacking, so the cost burden remains high, and I often hear complaints about having to form groups of four or feeling pressured to proceed with rounds due to the situation ahead or behind. I want to work with many golfers to find ways to escape this stress, focus solely on golf, and create memories not only of scores but also of the best holes or moments worth cherishing."
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