Running Spoons

Running Spoons is a South Korean HR technology startup established in 2018 by CEO Chang-min Lee. The company operates as an HR platform focused on career development, offering on-demand educational content for professionals.

The platform provides online and offline courses covering a range of practical skills needed by office workers, including data science, finance, real estate, business, and programming. Courses are taught by current industry professionals from various companies like Naver and Kakao, ensuring the content is relevant and immediately applicable in a real-world work environment. The business model serves both individual consumers (B2C) and corporate clients (B2B) seeking to facilitate digital transformation and employee upskilling. Revenue is generated from course fees, and the platform creates a virtuous cycle where an increase in students attracts more expert instructors, which in turn diversifies and enhances the course offerings, leading to user growth of 50-80% annually.

Starting with just a laptop and a small amount of capital in 2017, the company officially launched in 2018. By December 2021, it had served over 20,000 customers, and by September 2023, it had created over 1,300 courses for approximately 60,000 users. The company secured a 1.6 billion KRW Series A-1 funding round in June 2023 from investors including Kiwoom Investment and Wanted Lab, bringing its total accumulated investment to 2.5 billion KRW.

Keywords: HR technology, professional education, career development, online learning, offline courses, skill development, corporate training, EdTech, data science education, finance training, real estate courses, programming bootcamps, employee upskilling, digital transformation, continuing education, lifelong learning, practical skills, professional networking, B2C education, B2B training