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Golface Completes NT$50 Million Fundraising to Expand into North America; Founder Reveals: Golf Craze Inspired by Korean Dramas?
Golface, a startup specializing in the golf market, recently announced the completion of a new round of fundraising totaling NT$50 million. New investors joining the venture include the Nan Fong Golf Club family and Te Hsing Hu, director of FN Capital. Both of these entities have also become new directors of Golface, assisting the company in expanding its presence not only in the Japanese market but also in the United States and Southeast Asia.
Golface's main business involves providing services such as apps and golf cart tablets. It addresses some of the challenges faced by the golf industry due to a shortage of manpower, such as the lack of assistance in recording scores and providing course information with a software system. Currently, Golface has established partnerships with nearly 20 golf courses across Taiwan. Building upon this foundation, Golface is expanding into the physical space of golf courses and entering overseas markets in a branded manner.
Pandemic: Barrier and Booster! Golface's Overseas Expansion in Three Phases
According to the latest report from the golf management organization R&A, from the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020 to 2022, global golf participation has increased by 15%, marking significant growth.
"In fact, I think this is related to Korean dramas and the pandemic," Golface founder and CEO Ian Liao said with a smile. "The pandemic temporarily halted indoor activities, allowing outdoor sports like golf, which do not involve gathering, to have room for development. Additionally, with the global popularity of the 'Korean Wave,' scenes of playing golf frequently appearing in Korean dramas have further spurred the thriving development of golf.
The number of people playing golf is increasing, while the capacity of golf course services is decreasing. Automation and unmanned operation have become the transformational needs of this industry, which is also the original intention of Golface's entrepreneurship. Although Golface may seem to be just a provider of technology products for golf courses, the true vision behind it is to provide a better golfing experience. Therefore, since the outbreak of the pandemic, Golface has divided its global deployment into three stages.
First is OTA technology (Over-The-Air software updates). Due to the pandemic, Golface was unable to physically assist with system maintenance and upgrades in Japan. Therefore, they invested significant effort in researching OTA to enhance the speed and efficiency of their overall service, becoming a crucial foundation for scaling up.
The second step is branding. Ian Liao stated that although the golf population continues to grow, it remains a minority. "The global average golf participation rate is 5%, and Taiwan has only 2%. We cannot give up on the 95% for the sake of this 5%," said Ian Liao. Golface hopes to serve not only golfers but also to collaborate with different brands or have its own media department for content marketing, allowing more people to learn about golf and subtly introduce Golface to them.
Branding will serve as the solid foundation for the third step, the 'physical space.' 'It's like music festivals, large-scale tech exhibitions, or Burning Man,' said Ian Liao. 'We want to create a party for golf, a Disneyland for the golf world, where everyone can have a good experience and get to know golf better.' Although venturing into physical space management requires many resources, the team believes it's worth doing and is willing to invest. Taking the Nan Fong Golf Club family, one of the investors in this round, as an example, Nan Fong Golf Club will combine ample space and resources with Golface's technology and innovation. They will create a large indoor golf entertainment space within the golf course, transforming the golf consumption experience in Asia and globally.
New Directors Joining, Golface Plans to Go Public Within 5 Years
The newly appointed board member, Nan Fong Golf Club, has been selected by Rolex as one of the world's Top 1,000 golf courses. With golf course resources in Vietnam and the United States, Nan Fong Golf Club will assist Golface in expanding into overseas markets.
The other newly appointed board member, Te Hsing Hu, serves as the chairman of FN Management and FN Capital, bringing abundant and seasoned management as well as capital market experience to Golface, which will aid in formulating strategies for overseas and capital markets.
Former Chairman of Taiwan Golf Course Association, Wun Yuan Yang, is also a key partner in Golface's expansion into overseas markets. Yang stated that North America boasts nearly 20,000 golf courses, making it the largest market globally. Golface's products demonstrate high competitiveness in the US market, excelling in functionality, interface design, and mature remote updating technology. With Yang's assistance, there is already interest from PGA members in the US to join the company's team as business development partners for Golface's North American market. Discussions are actively underway to establish subsidiaries and branches in the US, with the goal of jointly selling services to the American golf market.
"We plan to initiate the listing process within 3 to 5 years, with Taiwan as our primary capital market," revealed Ian Liao.
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