[Korean Startup Interview] Granter: A Customer-Centric SaaS Startup with Rapid Growth in Finance Management

Reading Time: 8 minutes

funding Stage : Series A
Raising Amount : KRW 2B
Desired Fundraising Timeframe : 4Q 2024

Starting a startup after working at a large corporation is a significant decision, especially if that corporation is Samsung Electronics. Today’s featured company, Granter, is led by CEO Youngin Lee, who studied computer science at Sungkyunkwan University and developed AI and big data-related software at Samsung before venturing into entrepreneurship. After leaving Samsung, he worked as a team leader at a software company developing blockchain and NFT technologies. Realizing the lack of software that conveniently and clearly manages finance and accounting for small businesses and startups, he founded Granter and launched software of the same name.

Introducing software to readers through the media isn’t easy, particularly if the software is focused on functions needed by individuals, such as Hangul, Excel, or PowerPoint. However, if it’s a program that integrates a company’s finance, accounting, and tax functions, it’s even more challenging to explain. In this regard, “Granter” is a software that’s quite easy to explain, which speaks to its intuitive design.

You can access Granter via a web browser or download the app from Google Play, the App Store, or One Store, and start working in just a few minutes. The company’s finance and accounting manager can decide the number of people to manage, their names, and which cards to register, then link a digital certificate. Within minutes, connections with nine credit card companies, 18 banks, and the National Tax Service are established, allowing for immediate use. As employees’ expense data accumulates, Granter shows the expenditure breakdown by category, and AI analyzes it to suggest better financial and accounting management strategies.

Granter’s biggest strength lies in the customer-centric mindset of the founder and team. As mentioned earlier, the installation and adoption process is straightforward. Granter uses digital certificates, which can be easily installed and used on Windows, Android, and even Apple’s macOS. During a meeting with CEO Youngin Lee, someone mentioned a specific issue they encountered while using Granter, and he responded that it would be fixed within five minutes, which it was. Frequent communication with customers allowed them to quickly identify which code caused the issue, and because the software operates on a cloud and SaaS basis rather than requiring installation on each PC, rapid response was possible. This illustrates Granter’s strength: the ability to understand customer needs and design appropriate solutions, guided by a team and leader who understand “what software is and how it relates to customers.” There’s even a communication channel with customers, which serves as a training ground for real-time upgrades of Granter’s features.

However, naturally, there are questions. Software for connecting corporate finance and accounting has been used for a long time, and there are already prominent competitors in the market. How will Granter survive in this environment?

Granter’s target audience differs somewhat from other software companies. Granter targets the 7.3 million small businesses that find it difficult to hire finance or accounting personnel, rather than large corporations where financial, accounting, and tax processes are well-structured and manageable. After leaving a large corporation and working in small startups, CEO Youngin Lee based his startup on his experiences, making such an approach possible.

As we learn more about Granter, curiosity grows about the founder’s thoughts. What kind of company does CEO Youngin Lee want to create, and will his entrepreneurial philosophy translate into actual achievements? The outlook on this question may be inferred from his response. Lee frequently mentions that he likes Netflix‘s “No Rules Rules” work style and wants to build his company similarly. He believes this approach yields higher productivity. In fact, they wrote an astonishing 600,000 lines of software code in nine months. What would take more than five years in other similar software companies, they developed in about a year. This suggests that Lee’s management style has inspired the team.

Perhaps for this reason, Granter’s customer base is rapidly growing. After launching the service last June and establishing a corporation last October, they had 700 simple subscribers and 400 active subscribers by February this year. As of early May, 160 of these have converted to paid subscribers, which is a conversion rate of about 40%. At this rate, the number of paid subscribers is likely to increase. Recently, customers include YouTubers, self-employed individuals, churches, and even couples using it for joint budgeting. As the customer base grows, the “customer communication channel” will receive more diverse requests, which will upgrade Granter’s features. And thanks to the cloud-based SaaS service, customers will continuously encounter an improved Granter without even noticing.

With less than a year since the service launch and only seven months since becoming an official corporation, Granter has already been selected for Seed TIPS and attracted seed and pre-series A investments from Primer, Strong Ventures, Octagon Venture Partners, and others. Granter is in a fierce battlefield from the start. Investors should closely monitor whether Granter’s philosophy—centered on customers and fueled by team passion—can continue to thrive.

What problem is Granter aiming to solve?

Granter has identified that small businesses struggle with analyzing their expenses and cash flow effectively. Existing solutions are inconvenient to use and lack smart features powered by AI. As a result, the adoption rate of financial solutions among Korea’s 7.3 million small businesses is relatively low. Our goal is to make financial solutions mainstream for all small businesses and startups.

How does Granter solve this problem?

We address this problem with a customer-centric approach and personalized AI. We overhaul features that are inconvenient or difficult for customers to understand. We’ve meticulously refined the product so that users can naturally learn how to use it without any explanation. We also track and address customer pain points. We are continuously personalizing our AI features, enabling companies to build their own smart finance systems. Our customers start with the premise that they want to clearly understand their cash flow activities, and we differentiate Granter by establishing our unique organizational structure.

What are Granter’s competitive advantages and technical strengths compared to competitors?

We have a strong competitive edge in data analysis. We score our product and features daily using a heat map to identify which functions our customers use most and where they experience discomfort. We then refine the product accordingly. We also train daily with refined data to offer personalized AI features. The key to data organization is classification, and to achieve effective classification, we have a seven-step algorithm and AI model classification system internally. Additionally, to ensure data security, we encrypt and encapsulate data from communication to storage to prepare for potential threats.

What products or services does Granter offer, and what is their current state?

We integrate all nine credit card companies, 18 banks, and the National Tax Service to complete AI accounting analysis in five minutes. We then provide analysis services that allow financial officers or CEOs to view their cash flow easily and quickly.

Granter also functions as groupware that can be used by all employees. Employees can manage their assigned corporate card expenses, support electronic payments, receive notifications of account deposits or tax invoice dispatches, and assist with tasks like product delivery.

What is the target market size for Granter, and who are its core target customers?

Our target market encompasses all 7.3 million small businesses in Korea. Currently, our core target customers are companies with fewer than 300 employees, and we design our product to serve them best.

Granter’s customers come from diverse industries. Most are startups or small businesses, but recently, we’ve gained customers like YouTubers, self-employed individuals, online shops, and churches. Even couples have started paying to use it for joint budgeting. Ultimately, we plan to sell to the global market of approximately 700 million small businesses.

What is Granter’s business model?

Granter generates revenue through a monthly subscription fee based on the number of linked cards and accounts. This means that users who link fewer accounts can use the service at a lower cost, while those who link more accounts can benefit from the built-in discount system.

There are no other additional fees, and costs are solely based on the number of linked cards and accounts. Granter has simplified its pricing to be as user-friendly as possible. Users can disconnect unused accounts or cards as needed to optimize costs.

What have been the team’s achievements so far?

To date, we have achieved a total of 160 paying corporate subscribers, with a monthly retention rate close to 97%. We’ve also secured millions of financial data points, enhancing and refining our system’s intelligence.

Through financial investments, government support, and credit guarantees, we’ve secured a total capital of 1 billion KRW, which has allowed us to hire permanent employees and engage in various partnerships contributing to the industry.

We have received investments from Primer, the largest accelerator in Korea, as well as from Strong Ventures and Octagon Venture Partners, recognizing our growth potential.

What is Granter’s team’s competitive edge?

CEO Youngin Lee is a software developer with over six years of experience at Samsung Electronics’ Wireless Business Unit AI Big Data Center, where he gained experience in data, AI, and service. He then led a development team of over 10 people as CTO at a blockchain startup. Our current team members also come from top universities in Seoul, with an average of 5 to 7 years of software development experience.

It’s rare for an early-stage startup to secure such senior software development talent. Currently, all Granter team members are highly skilled in their respective positions. The senior development capabilities of the CEO and team members ensure the quality and stability of the Granter product.

What are three reasons why Granter should receive investment?

First, the market is huge. It’s not industry-specific, and we’re targeting users who handle money, so their willingness to pay is high. The financial services market is not yet mainstream, but it’s evident that this market will expand significantly in the future. If you see this market as a blue ocean, bold investment is necessary.

Second, the Granter team can open up this market. Like the founders of the Magnificent 7, Granter’s founders and team have outstanding engineering skills and business acumen.

Third, we are delivering results. In just five months after monetization, we’ve secured 160 paying corporate clients, and the pace of client acquisition is increasing rapidly.

Any final messages you want to convey to readers and investors?

In the AI era, organizations are becoming increasingly fragmented and smaller. Creating financial tools that smaller companies and groups can use effectively, and enhancing them with AI, is crucial for supporting future entrepreneurs as a growth engine for the country. We hope you will support Granter in fulfilling its mission.

[Korean Startup Interview]

accounting AI EN finance granter Interview Korea Korean startup software Startup Together WOWTALK

와우테일(WOWTALE)