Chahoo Inc., South Korean startup that develops various information and communications technology (ICT) solutions, said it has clinched a series of deals to supply its smart door lock solution that allows a user to lock and unlock the door by simply touching a smartphone to the lock to foreign hotel chains.

According to the company, it lately shipped $5 million worth of the first batch of its Internet of Things (IoT) technology-based digital door lock system “ImGATE” to a hotel in the United States.

The latest deal came after the Korean startup in July installed 200 units of the smart door lock solution in TUI BLUE Jadran in Croatia that is managed by German hotel group TUI. It will also supply the “ImGATE” smart door system to six other TUI hotel chains in the United States, European countries and Taiwan where global door lock brands already dominate.

The company’s smart door lock technology has also gained attention at home. It will install the “ImGATE” in 300 rooms at a hotel in Yeongjong Island in port city Incheon in Korea, the company said.

The “ImGATE” is different from other digital door lock systems that are also controlled by a smartphone. Most existing smartphone-controlled digital door locks require users to activate a certain app to open the door, but the “ImGATE” allows its users to unlock the door without running a separate app, Chahoo CEO Shin Chang-hoon said in a recent interview with Maeil Business Newspaper at the company’s headquarters. Thanks to Bluetooth connection, “ImGATE” users can lock and unlock the door by simply touching their smartphones to the door, Shin added.

Because its app assigns different encrypted virtual keys, the system’s security is higher than other products’, and its users can directly check in their hotel rooms without visiting hotel reception desks, according to the company.

The company also claimed that there is very low risk of hacking to its digital door lock system because it uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) server. The system also consumes less power than other products, the company said.

By 송지윤

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]