[Power K-Women] "An Era Where Childcare and Education Can Also Be Customized"

Kids-Edu Tech Platform 'Jaranda' CEO Jang Seo-jeong

Editor's NoteAsia Economy selected 40 women from various fields at home and abroad as 'Power K-Women' at the '2022 Women Leaders Forum' held on October 19. These are women leaders who, despite facing all kinds of barriers and boundaries such as gender, race, disability, and poverty, did not yield to them but broke or transcended these boundaries to create new and universal values. Their stories will provide comfort to a weary world, serve as role models for someone, and give the community the strength to move forward again.

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] “I don't place much value on the external gaze directed at me.”

Jang Seo-jeong, CEO of Jaranda, has no regrets about her choice to boldly challenge the kids-edu tech industry, which was dismissed as a so-called ‘lemon market’ (a market where useless goods or services are traded), as a solo entrepreneur. Jang said, “There may have been stereotypical external views toward female CEOs, but I always think that being a woman allowed me to convey Jaranda’s mission more sincerely.”

Jang explained, “The only difficulty I felt as a female CEO was that there are not many female CEOs with whom I could share concerns and seek advice,” adding, “It is still a challenge I constantly face.” She continued, “If there were many people of the same generation sharing similar concerns and perspectives, we could discover good insights and comfort each other. Sometimes, when faced with overwhelming situations, I want to draw inspiration from those who started the journey before me, but the proportion of female CEOs in our country is still too low.”

She smiled and said, “I used to be frequently asked about the ‘glass ceiling,’ and until now, I thought I had never experienced it myself. Looking back now, I think I never even reached that point, so I didn’t feel it.”

Jang founded Jaranda in 2016 to directly solve the childcare concerns she faced as a mother. She needed someone to talk and play with her 4-year-old child at their level, and she began planning the business after meeting a university student caregiver through a mom caf?. Based on her 10 years of experience in user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design at Motorola and 2 years in digital business strategy at Cheil Worldwide, she introduced the concept of a ‘play sitter’ and started the service.

Overseas, investments in the kids-edu tech industry, which alleviates parental burdens and provides childcare solutions, have been ongoing for a long time. Last year, investment in kids-edu tech startups in the U.S. reached about 1.65 trillion won (1.4 billion dollars). The global childcare market is estimated at 130 billion dollars.

However, the domestic infant and education market suffered from severe information asymmetry. Jaranda was launched with the goal of universalizing childcare and parenting information through technology, not just sharing information within some communities. Jaranda is not simply a matching service between teachers and mothers but a startup aiming for the digital transformation of child growth. As a result, Jaranda, which matches sitters to help parents and children with care and education, has become the number one matching platform in the home-visit teacher market for infants and children.

Additionally, Jaranda has been praised for solving the information asymmetry problem of childcare and education information that previously relied solely on word of mouth among mothers, and in April this year, it secured 31 billion won in Series B investment. Led by Korea Investment Partners, with investments from Atinum Investment, Ivy Ventures, Korea Development Bank, and Kakao Ventures. Last year, it achieved triple sales growth compared to the previous year, and cumulative sales surpassed 10 billion won. More than 1,000 companies have introduced Jaranda’s services as employee welfare, and nationwide service is being prepared by 2022. The number of registered teachers is 200,000, including 2,500 teachers for English, math, and arts and physical education.

Jang cited the outdated reality of the infant and education market and changes in parents’ awareness as the background for Jaranda’s rapid growth. She recalled, “In the past, the childcare and education market was very closed and bleak. There was ‘demand,’ but ‘supply’ was not smooth, causing severe market imbalance.”

She explained, “At the time of founding Jaranda, many looked unfavorably upon the idea of ‘finding someone online to take care of a child.’ Even in the information age and with the rise of the sharing economy, the childcare and education market remained particularly conservative.” She added, “Now, outsourcing education to outsiders or experts has become common if it benefits one’s own child. Jaranda’s service, which identifies teachers’ personalities, specialties, and activity data to recommend the most suitable teacher for a child’s temperament, meets the changed ‘needs’ of parents.”

Jang’s focus has now shifted from ‘demanders’ to ‘suppliers.’ While she had focused on parents and children as demanders, she now aims to develop the system from the perspective of suppliers such as educational institutions and teachers.

Jang pointed out, “There is still no proper network for suppliers in the childcare and education market. Most are based on personal networks, and data or references are not accumulated, making datafication difficult.” She explained, “From operating Jaranda, I realized that suppliers also face many difficulties. Ultimately, the ‘pain point’ of information asymmetry continuously arises.”

Jaranda teachers write a kind of observation diary for the children they visit and input the content into Jaranda’s database. Based on the accumulated data, the system analyzes the child’s interests and temperament to suggest which teacher is suitable and what care and education programs are needed. This system combines artificial intelligence algorithms and big data processing, aiming to find the right teacher for the child and provide appropriate education.

To register as a teacher on Jaranda, one must pass eight strict verification procedures, including identity verification, child abuse criminal record check, personality test, activity orientation, academic certification, sex crime record check, interview, and qualification certification. Through this, the teacher’s personality, specialties, and activity data are identified, and the most suitable teacher for the child’s temperament is recommended. The database for children and parents as demanders is sufficient.

Jang said, “Jaranda’s distinction is that the teacher adapts to the child, not the child to the teacher. To do this, a sufficient database for teachers must also be established.” She emphasized, “From the supplier’s perspective, teachers have no way to know where and how many demanders are, or what their temperaments are. Jaranda wants to solve this asymmetry problem as a matching platform and make it transparent.”

Jang added, “The ultimate goal is for Jaranda to design the careers of supplier teachers together. If teachers can accumulate experience and grow beyond simple part-time jobs, a virtuous cycle structure that provides better education will be formed.”

The low birthrate crisis is no problem in front of Jang. South Korea is a low birthrate crisis country where the population aged 0 to 12 is expected to decrease by an average of more than 3.97% annually from 2022 to 2031. The market for infants and elementary school students, Jaranda’s main customer base, may shrink. However, the decline in childcare labor to raise children is faster. Jang explained, “Although the number of children has decreased due to the falling birthrate, expectations for the quality of education have risen significantly. The expansion of diversity and personalized industries is definitely a positive factor.”

Throughout the interview, Jang emphasized ‘customizing.’ She said, “Nowadays, with just a smartphone, personalized lifestyles such as OTT or dawn delivery are possible. I believe the lives of parents and children should also be provided in a customized way, not by choosing one from a few options.” This reveals Jang’s parenting philosophy that each child should grow differently.

Jang also expressed a firm belief about Jaranda’s future position and role. She said, “I hope it develops into sufficient infrastructure where various high-quality childcare services on the market can be seen at a glance,” emphasizing, “Jaranda envisions a future where becoming a parent does not drastically change one’s life or force one to quit their job.”

Finally, Jang concluded the interview by saying, “Personally, I hope that the path of myself and Jaranda can become a compass that positively influences many female entrepreneurs and female CEOs.”