'EduTech' Ignited by COVID-19... Education Industry Focuses on AI Learning

Woongjin ThinkBig's 'SmartAll' Sees 10x Increase in Members and Revenue
'Rising Power' Hunet Achieves Highest Sales Since Inception
Education Industry Focuses Future Strategy on Edutech R&D... Market Annual Growth Rate in 30% Range

Woongjin ThinkBig's Edutech service 'SmartAll.'
Photo by Woongjin ThinkBig

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Junhyung] The spread of COVID-19 has ignited the expansion of contactless (untact) education, accelerating growth in the Edutech market. Education companies that entered the Edutech industry early are reaping considerable benefits. With steady high growth expected in the Edutech sector, the education industry is focusing on research and development (R&D) related to artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Edutech is a compound word of Education and Technology. Woongjin ThinkBig, Kyowon Group, and Hunet are representative Edutech companies.

The traditional leaders in the education market posted solid results. Woongjin ThinkBig and Kyowon Group recognized the potential of Edutech several years ago and entered the market. Although both companies experienced slight declines in sales due to the impact of COVID-19 on offline sales such as workbooks, their Edutech divisions showed remarkable performance.

Woongjin ThinkBig’s core Edutech service, ‘SmartAll,’ is thriving. Both membership and sales have increased about tenfold since its launch in 2019. Last month, the number of members exceeded 100,000, and sales have continued to grow steadily each month. Including SmartAll, the ‘AI Learning’ membership reached 156,000 by the end of last year, showing a 95% growth rate compared to the previous year.

Kyowon Group’s Edutech business also proved to be a strong contributor. The membership of Kyowon Group’s Edutech service, ‘Smart Kumon,’ surpassed 130,000 last year, marking a 17% increase from the previous year. A Kyowon Group official stated, "As school closures and suspensions increased, quickly strengthening video learning also contributed to the performance," adding, "Although the workbook and door-to-door sales markets froze, education business sales are expected to maintain a similar level as the previous year."

Emerging Edutech leader Hunet recorded its highest sales since its founding last year. Hunet’s main customers are small and medium-sized enterprises that find it difficult to establish their own employee training systems. Due to remote work, companies could not conduct offline training for new employees, leading them to seek Hunet’s services. Hunet’s sales last year reached 56.4 billion KRW, a 24% increase from the previous year. The number of learners also surged. Hunet’s annual number of learners last year was 6.6 million, nearly double the 3.72 million from the previous year.

The education industry has already focused its future strategy on Edutech R&D centered on AI. Woongjin ThinkBig invested 5 million USD in 2018 in the Silicon Valley Edutech venture ‘Kidaptive.’ In 2019, it opened an Edutech research institute with about 150 researchers, concentrating on AI education program R&D. Kyowon Group’s chairman personally took the lead in making ‘AI ecosystem construction’ a new management agenda and established an AI Innovation Center with about 100 staff last year. Hunet received approval to establish an Artificial Intelligence Education Research Institute earlier this month.

Meanwhile, according to related industries, the domestic Edutech market’s annual average growth rate reaches 30%. The global Edutech market is projected to grow more than twice, from 169.4 trillion KRW in 2018 to 378.6 trillion KRW in 2025. Considering that these statistics are from before the COVID-19 outbreak, the growth rate could be even higher.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.