Home Cleaning Service Cheongso Research Institute Secures 22 Billion KRW Investment

New Participants Including Korea Development Bank, DS Asset Management, Lotte Accelerator, and Hana Ventures

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] Life Research Institute (CEO Yeon Hyun-joo), which operates the home cleaning service 'Cheongso Yeonguso,' announced on the 10th that it has attracted a total investment of 22 billion KRW from six domestic and international investors.

This investment includes new shareholders such as Korea Development Bank, DS Asset Management, Lotte Accelerator, and Hana Ventures, along with existing investors Kakao Ventures, Altos Ventures, KTB Network, and Capital One. With this, the cumulative investment amount has reached 35.5 billion KRW.

Founded in 2017 by six people including CEO Yeon Hyun-joo, who left Kakao's new business organization, Life Research Institute aims to innovate the home cleaning market through Cheongso Yeonguso, a housekeeping helper intermediary platform.

From the early stages of the service, Cheongso Yeonguso has operated a 'matching algorithm' that optimizes the assignment of cleaning managers through education for cleaning managers and data analysis of customers to provide better service and improve the working environment of cleaning managers. As a result, Cheongso Yeonguso has rapidly grown, achieving a cumulative order volume of 1.8 million and an annual sales growth rate of 200%. Word of mouth about the working conditions and treatment of cleaning managers, the core of the business, continues, with a total of 35,000 people currently active. In particular, Cheongso Yeonguso's subscription users who use the service regularly every month account for 65% of the total, and among them, non-face-to-face service users, including dual-income couples and singles, also account for a high proportion of over 80%.

Jung Shin-ah, CEO of Kakao Ventures, who participated in the investment for the third time, said, "Cheongso Yeonguso is innovating and growing in the housekeeping helper market worth 8 trillion KRW annually," adding, "A good team is establishing service principles such as manuals and education well, and operating in line with customer needs, so future growth is even more anticipated."