Korea Creative Content Agency Supports Accelerator Co-Growth Project - ③ Platform
'Village Baby' Providing Pregnancy Information · 'Nine to Six' Custom Shoe Recommendations
One out of three domestic startups closes within a year of founding. Of the remaining two, one cannot survive for five years. The average time it takes for a surviving company to be listed on KOSDAQ is 14 years. They endlessly wander between happiness and emptiness. There is a helping hand. Support ranges from development funding programs to office provision and labor cost support. However, becoming accustomed to convenience can lead to a loss of self-sustainability. There is also a gap between business plans for support and what private investors and customers want. Since 2017, the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) has launched the Content Accelerator Co-Growth Project to provide effective support. By utilizing private expertise, it discovered startups and supported them with abundant mentorship to strengthen their capabilities, achieve results, and attract investment. Thirty companies were selected through three accelerators. We examine their current status by dividing them into media, information and communication technology (ICT) convergence, and platforms.
Village Baby is a platform company that refines and provides pregnancy information content through artificial intelligence (AI) analysis. It introduces popular maternity products bundled with consumer reviews and more. The application ‘Baby Billy’ has recorded weekly sales of 100 million KRW within less than a year since its launch. CEO Lee Jung-yoon said, "Meeting KOCCA and SparkLabs’ ‘2020 Content Lab’ allowed us to build a sustainable business model." "During the time we were struggling with establishing a business model and attracting investment, we received appropriate mentoring. Following their advice, we focused on researching and reflecting customer preferences, which led to sales growth."
Village Baby’s quarterly sales more than doubled last year. Focusing on the demand of the millennial parent generation and enhancing the level of information proved effective. They tackled new challenges every month to find the right direction. Let’s hear from CEO Lee again.
"KOCCA and SparkLabs constantly ask questions. When customer retention rates come out high, they immediately demand commercial testing. They didn’t settle for small achievements and challenged new goals such as overseas expansion. Discussions with accelerators often end with advice, but KOCCA and SparkLabs impressively provide partners with concrete directions needed."
This year’s goal is to enter the Southeast Asian market. Starting with Vietnam, they plan to identify the needs of local prospective parents and provide customized services. They will also add various features so customers can continue using the app after childbirth. CEO Lee said, "Currently, app users are mostly women in the very early stages of pregnancy, between 6 to 8 weeks on average." "We will strengthen existing content and introduce customized community and diary functions so they can access various growth information even after childbirth." "We want to establish the app as a favorite until children enter elementary school and before parents join formal parent communities."
Another beneficiary of the ‘2020 Content Lab,’ Nine to Six, is focusing on retention marketing this year. Nine to Six is a healthcare service company that recommends functional products suited to feet using AI. They are preparing algorithms to analyze foot types online. Rather than simply selling many products, they plan to concretize a framework for understanding and analyzing customers.
KOCCA and SparkLabs’ support was instrumental in this new plan. CEO Ki Hee-kyung said, "They induced business expansion and business model concretization from an investor’s perspective." "Functional insoles were recognized as medical products in the existing market, so the sales range was limited. Through the ‘2020 Content Lab,’ we focused on finding popular elements that could appeal to consumers. We emphasized the comfort of pretty shoes and applied various ideas."
Nine to Six’s sales last year were about 1.3 billion KRW, 2.5 times higher than the previous year. This was thanks to expanding the business area from offline to online. They turned the COVID-19 crisis into an opportunity for growth and development. The existing system analyzed foot conditions with a foot scanner and recommended customized products. CEO Ki segmented this online by type and achieved results beyond expectations.
He said, "Offline sales dropped by more than half in the first month of the COVID-19 outbreak, but we reversed the situation by systematically running online services in parallel." "Thanks to the increase in tracking and hiking populations and the rise of self-care items, we have entered a stable trajectory." Quick response was possible through a change in mindset. In analyzing and expanding the existing business, the consumer’s perspective was prioritized. CEO Ki said, "Through KOCCA and SparkLabs’ arrangements, I met with CEO Kim Nam-sook of Instant Tattoo and received practical help." "I deeply agreed with the idea that fundamental customer desires must be stimulated to generate profits."
Exploration of the essence is also applied in management. This is a point all preparing startups should keep in mind. "It is most important to accept and design the business as ‘our’ work, not ‘mine.’ I have many conversations with team members as much as the time invested in the business model. When we understand each other and coordinate, we can laugh bigger together."
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