Zigbang completes Samsung SDS home IoT takeover

Zigbang, a South Korean proptech startup that provides real estate search and transaction services, has completed the acquisition of Samsung SDS Co.’s home internet of things (IoT) business.  

The startup said on Thursday that it took over the rights for intellectual property, sales, production and contracts related to the home IoT business that Samsung SDS has operated through its Korean and Chinese affiliates.  

Zigbang signed a contract to acquire the home IoT unit of Samsung Group’s IT services provider this past January. The two parties didn't disclose the deal size.

For the acquisition, the proptech startup attracted around 100 billion won ($76.9 million) via pre-IPO in June valued at around 2.5 trillion won. Major investors include the state-run Korea Development Bank, venture capital firm IMM Investment Corp. and securities firm Hana Financial Investment Co. 

The investors gave high marks to the potential of the smart home business as well as to Soma, Zingbang’s virtual office platform targeting global users that was launched in May.

Soma is an upgraded version of Metropolis, which Zigbang launched last year when it implemented full remote working for its employees. Around 2,000 Metropolis users are switching to Soma, which supports 12 languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Portuguese, Russian and Korean.

Zigbang will set up a smart home unit for the development and sales of Samsung door locks, wall pads and lobby phones and make a full-scale foray into the smart home market.  

Samsung’s smart door lock, which gained popularity for its push-pull design and fingerprint recognition, has ranked at the top of the Korean digital door lock market since its launch in 2004.

Its wall pad sales have also increased as more Korean construction firms build cloud computing-based smart homes. The IoT unit is set to launch a new lobby phone model that enables video calls between the device and smartphones.

Zigbang said it will strive to strengthen its brand awareness in the smart home business-to-consumer (B2C) arena, as well as maintain stable growth in China and seek entry into new markets.

Write to Chae-Yeon Kim at why29@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.