‘Idolbom’ Jjaekakak-eo Secures 16 Billion KRW Series B Investment

LG Uplus, NH Hedge Asset Management, Hana Securities, and Industrial Bank of Korea New Participants
Kyobo Securities, KB Securities, and Woomi Follow-On

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] Jjaegakak-eo, an edutech service company for childcare, announced on the 3rd that it has completed a Series B investment round worth 16 billion KRW. With this, Jjaegakak-eo's cumulative investment amount has increased to 29 billion KRW.

The company stated that it was recognized with a corporate valuation more than twice as high as last year during this investment round.

New participants in this investment round included LG Uplus, NH Hedge Asset Management, Hana Securities, and Industrial Bank of Korea. Additionally, Kyobo Securities, KB Securities, and Woomi participated as follow-on investors. The valuation increased by more than double compared to last year.

Since launching its first service in 2016, Jjaegakak-eo has grown into a childcare and parenting company with 230,000 parent members and 110,000 teacher members, supported by an average annual growth rate of over 90% in parent members and 110% in teacher members. Based on sales figures up to August this year, the company has grown nearly threefold compared to the previous year, and has opened four additional offline Jjaegak Island Kids Centers this year, operating a total of seven centers.

This growth trend is attributed to the company's strategy of integrating content with online and offline platforms. Jjaegakak-eo has improved its profit margins by strengthening its proprietary content capabilities and successfully expanding its online app (Jjaegakak-eo) and offline channels (Jjaegak Island), moving away from visit-based care services such as play teachers or visiting teachers. Based on this, the customer age range has expanded from preschool children to elementary school students.

Jjaegakak-eo’s strategy of combining offline, online, and content has attracted interest not only from the kids market but also from proptech investors. Woomi, a follow-on investor in this Series B round, has invested in real estate-related proptech companies like Zigbang and Terarosa, as well as retail content companies. The company explained that through Woomi’s investment, it can be confirmed that Jjaegakak-eo is evolving into a model beyond just an edutech company.

Kim Hee-jung, CEO of Jjaegakak-eo, said, “Jjaegakak-eo has renewed contracts 100% this year with about 30 large corporations, each with annual contracts worth between 100 million and 1 billion KRW, continuing from last year. Companies interested in CSR activities such as ESG, care for children with disabilities, family support, and closing learning gaps, as well as solving childcare issues for employees, are seeking Jjaegakak-eo.”

Jjaegakak-eo will focus on achieving its team mission of “solving childcare needs anytime and anywhere” with the funds raised in this investment round. Its goals include ▲advancing personalized services for each child ▲producing high-quality proprietary content using character IP ▲developing an integrated online and offline service platform.