Cardoc is set to further expand this year, having secured a significant number of partners in the automotive aftermarket and a high level of customer satisfaction for its services.

The Korean venture firm, which provides auto repair cost estimates through its mobile Cardoc platform, seeks to grow through ties with repair shops in untapped provincial areas, such as Jeolla and Gangwon provinces. It is also lining up potential strategic investors, including Daum Communications, Korea’s second-largest search provider.

Cardoc CEO Lee Joon-noh said in an interview with The Korea Herald that this was part of efforts to gain a stronger foothold in the niche market, where competitors have not yet emerged. He said Cardoc aimed to make a “smooth” transition to providing paid services by July this year.

The company further seeks to gain profit by receiving commission on sales by auto repair shops.

These steps toward solid growth will be able to boost its valuation, and hopefully help the company attract strategic investments or partnerships, and eye expansion beyond Korea in the near future.

“We are confident that the company will see profit soon as most of our partners in the auto repair segment saw their sales increase more than twofold after introducing their services through our app,” Lee said.

“We are in talks with potential partners and investors as we would need them to understand and analyze markets especially for overseas expansion in the future.”

Daum plans to invest in Cardoc as a strategic investor, Lee said, noting that the relationship between the two companies would be best viewed as an “affiliation.”

Lee, a former employee of Daum, submitted his business idea for Cardoc to the portal operator’s in-house venture program called the Next Incubation Studio in 2012.

Daum picked Cardoc among applications to provide support to its team headed by Lee in technology development, market analysis and branding after proving its potential.

The search giant spun off Lee’s app this month as a venture in which Lee invested with three other founders as its major shareholders.

Cardoc allows users to receive and compare estimated repair costs from auto shops immediately after they upload a picture that shows the exterior parts of their automobiles that have been damaged by collisions.

The company, which currently provides services to some 120,000 users in major metropolitan areas, has mainly sought to attract foreign car owners in Korea as it saw a business opportunity in the rapidly growing aftermarket for imported automobiles, Lee said.

By Shin Ji-hye (hkp@heraldcorp.com)