Taiwanese Innovators: KDAN

KDAN is at the forefront of leveraging AI-driven solutions to optimize business operations. The company specializes in developing innovative software solutions that streamline workflows, enhance efficiency, and drive growth. By harnessing the power of AI, KDAN empowers businesses to make data-driven decisions and achieve operational excellence. With that, join me in learning more about KDAN with its Investment & Strategic Corporate Partnerships Development, Ben Huang, and its Business Development Manager, Hailie Lu. 

Could you briefly introduce KDAN?

Ben Huang: KDAN was founded in 2009, and has already operated in the market for more than 15 years. Currently, we have around 300+ employees. Our headquarters is based in Taiwan, yet our business operations goes beyond this to the US, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asian regions. We have clients and users across more than 167 countries, with over 200 million software products downloaded and more than 12 million KDAN registered members, including 40,000 business members. KDAN has been recognized by the Financial Times as one of the Top 500 High-Growth Companies in the Asia-Pacific region, leading in the IT and Software category in Taiwan.

From the products or solutions perspective, KDAN provides intelligent digital workflow and data solutions, leading businesses to enhance work efficiency, empower decision-making, and maximize business value. Around 15 years ago, when the Apple App Store just started, I think we were one of the first companies to launch a PDF app, KDAN PDF Reader, on the App Store, and that is how the company started to grow. Around 4 years ago, we entered the eSignature business and launched our eSign solution, which is called DottedSign. Last year, we launched KDAN Office that is highly compatible with Microsoft Office to streamline document workflow. Early this year, we also launched KDAN AI to amplify business potential with automated workflow. Additionally, KDAN provides API and SDK modular integration. Our products or solutions apply to the enterprise working environment, especially for the enterprise clients, SMB, and business users in enhancing their digital workflow.

From the business or partnership development perspective, what is your plan for the Southeast Asian market?

Ben Huang: The Southeast Asian market has a lot of potential. Despite the global market uncertainty in the past few years, we can still see the strong growth momentum in the SEA market. For KDAN, I think SEA will be one of our main focuses for this year. In order to drive our business in SEA for this year, we will use both organic and inorganic growth strategies.

Through organic growth, we will expand and scale up our business partnership program in the SEA market. Also, we will work closely with our SEA agency partners, reseller partners, referral partners, accelerator partners, and association partners to penetrate the market with our KDAN AI, KDAN Document, and DottedSign eSignature solutions together. We sincerely appreciate TechShake for the big help in supporting our business development in the Philippine & SEA markets.

By inorganic growth, we relaunched our M&A and Investment project earlier this year. This year, we will search for potential M&A and Investment opportunities in both Southeast Asia and Japan markets. If there is any good deal which can provide business synergy, financial synergy or product synergy, please feel free to contact us anytime. We will definitely take a look into it and start the conversation with the counterparty.

What specific benefits does KDAN's AI-driven PDF solution, KDAN PDF Reader, offer to businesses in Southeast Asia?

Hailie Lu: In the first half of 2024, we introduced features such as “AI Analyst Chatbot” and “AI Auto Redact” to facilitate automated document processing. These features integrated digital document workflow with AI technologies, providing end-to-end solutions to leverage businesses’ productivity and the decision-making process. With our solution, businesses can optimize their operation efficiency and drive business growth effortlessly.

In Southeast Asia, startups often operate in fast-paced environments and require tools that are both efficient and flexible. Our cross-device document management capabilities allow seamless access and editing of documents from any device. Be it a smartphone, tablet, or computer. You name it. This ensures that teams can collaborate in real-time, regardless of their location. For startups, this means better communication, which is crucial for their success in a competitive market.

Can you share a short story from a Southeast Asian client using your AI-driven PDF solutions?

Hailie Lu: Sure. One of our clients, a prestigious university in Taiwan with over 100 years of history, fully implemented our AI-driven PDF solutions to automate their administrative processing workflow. By using our technology, they were able to reduce the processing time from days to hours, enhancing the working efficiency by 67% and significantly improving accuracy in editing daily PDF files. 

This success story highlights the transformative potential of our solutions. We believe AI is a powerful tool of digital transformation and we are committed to continually developing more AI features in KDAN PDF Reader. We look forward to supporting the Southeast Asia region's digital growth and are excited about the opportunities and partnerships in Southeast Asia. 

Visit www.techshake.asia if you would like to know and connect more with KDAN.