[Start人] Watching Babies 24 Hours at Postpartum Care Center with 'I&Na'

Lee Kyung-jae, CEO of i&na
Provides 'BebeCam' Service
Real-time Monitoring via App

Kyungjae Lee, CEO of iNna

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] The landscape of postpartum care centers has changed significantly in the COVID-19 era. Even when the long-awaited first child is born, in most cases, fathers cannot even see their child's face. Except for postpartum helpers, family members including the mother’s husband, maternal, and paternal relatives are mostly restricted from entering. Parents are curious whether their baby is breastfeeding well or sleeping soundly, but there is no way to find out.

Lee Kyungjae, CEO of Ianna (43, pictured), recognized this anxiety early on and founded the startup Ianna in 2017. Ianna provides the ‘BebeCam’ service, which monitors babies in real time 24 hours a day. By installing the ‘Ivory’ application, parents can check on their baby anytime through a CCTV installed on the ceiling of the newborn room. Lee said, "Nowadays, the first criterion couples use to choose a postpartum care center is whether BebeCam is installed," adding, "In the COVID-19 situation, inquiries about installation are increasing not only from private but also public postpartum centers."

In the early stages of the business, concerns about postpartum caregivers’ human rights issues caused by CCTV were a hurdle. Some postpartum caregivers expressed worries that their work might be monitored during the baby monitoring process. Lee overcame this by meeting directors and staff one by one to help them understand the parents’ perspective. As BebeCam gained popularity through word of mouth and more young couples inquired about the service installation, the perception of postpartum centers gradually changed. Lee said, "Installing BebeCam has become a way for postpartum centers to promote themselves as safe and transparent," adding, "Now, newly established centers contact us first."

Service image of iNna's 'Ivory BebeCam'.

In the first year after founding, sales were almost nonexistent, but they reached 500 million KRW in 2019, 3 billion KRW in 2020, and exceeded 7 billion KRW in 2021. This year’s sales are expected to surpass 10 billion KRW.

Besides BebeCam, Ianna also operates the online shopping mall ‘Ivory Mall’ that sells premium baby products. Last year, they launched a live commerce platform called ‘Ara Show.’ Lee said, "Regarding the commerce sector, we saw the potential to grow not just as a sales channel but as a community related to childcare and women," adding, "As the community grows, we plan to offer high-quality childcare content such as parenting classes."

Lee is developing an ‘AI Babysitter’ service that uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology to understand a child’s emotions and health status and notify caregivers. AI is a core technology that will serve as a foothold for Ianna’s entry into overseas markets. Lee said, "After successfully raising Pre-Series A level investment last year, we plan to focus more on technology development through Series A investment this year."

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