Domestic Video Conferencing Solution 'Pagecall' Challenging Google Meet and Zoom

[Start人] Interview with Park Jureong, Director of Plink
Developing Online Communication Solutions Specialized in 'Education'

Rapid Growth in Performance After COVID-19
Accelerating Expansion into Overseas Markets Including the US and Japan

Jureong Park, Director at Flink.

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] Due to COVID-19, many office workers experienced online video meetings through programs like Google Meet and Zoom. The same was true in educational settings. While non-face-to-face communication using these programs was a key factor in overcoming the pandemic, there were limitations. It was mainly one-way communication rather than the vivid two-way interaction found in offline environments.

Focusing on these pain points, a domestic startup has challenged the global video conferencing solution market. Flink operates 'Pagecall,' a Software as a Service (SaaS) for online communication. At Flink’s headquarters located in Bongcheon-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, Park Jureong, co-founder and director of Flink, said, "Just as early online shopping malls that sold everything have specialized by sector such as meat, fruit, and clothing, online communication solutions are also becoming segmented into meetings, education, consulting, etc., after the endemic phase. Pagecall is a highly developed service focused on interactive education."

After graduating from Daegu Science High School and majoring in computer engineering at Seoul National University, Park worked as an online video tutoring instructor after completing his military service in 2014. Then suddenly, the video tutoring service operators fled overnight. Students did not receive tuition refunds, and instructors were not paid their wages. Park represented the instructors in a labor lawsuit. Through this process, he communicated with various people involved in video tutoring services and discovered a startup idea. He thought of creating an online communication solution that would allow instructors and students to communicate freely even if they were far apart in rural areas or overseas, and enable students with poor learning environments to receive quality educational services. Park persuaded CEO Choi Piljun, his senior at university, and Director Kim Taemin, his high school classmate, to co-found Flink in 2015.

The core of Pagecall’s interactivity is the 'whiteboard' feature. Going beyond existing video conferencing solutions specialized in voice and text, it has further enhanced real-time handwriting and material synchronization. Park emphasized, "The education sector is a market specialized in educators explaining abstract and complex concepts to students, so we targeted this area. We developed it to provide a seamless handwriting experience and real-time corrections so that educators and students feel as if they are next to each other."

Currently, about 30 major clients use Pagecall, including Seoltap, Supaja, and Kwanda Tutoring. Many educational content companies use Pagecall for entrance exam video tutoring, Korean language video meetings for overseas clients, and adult job consulting. Pagecall also provides customized services tailored to these companies’ needs. Park said, "We can immediately customize services upon requests such as creating classrooms that focus only on voice and handwriting without video, or producing templates specialized for young children. Since data such as how long students have connected and how many hours they attended are linked with client systems, it also helps clients improve operational efficiency."

Using the Flink Page Call service.

Flink’s performance grew rapidly during the COVID-19 period. Sales, which were 78 million KRW in 2019, grew to 420 million KRW in 2020 and 1.2 billion KRW in 2021. This year, they expect sales of 2 billion KRW. Pagecall’s second-quarter sales increased by 165% year-on-year, and actual usage rose by 87%. Park said, "The actual usage time, where two or more people connect to Pagecall and real classes take place, reached 5 million minutes in the past month and a cumulative 50 million minutes. One-tenth of the total cumulative usage occurred in the last month, indicating a growth trend after the endemic phase."

In August, Flink was selected for the 'Post-TIPS' program by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. Post-TIPS is a global star company development program that selects some graduates of TIPS (Tech Incubator Program for Startup), which nurtures promising startup companies, to provide focused support for full-scale growth. Park said, "We successfully completed the core technology advancement during the TIPS process and met the graduation requirements. Being selected for Post-TIPS proves that our business remains promising, so we plan to further strengthen technology advancement."

Pagecall is currently targeting entry into the U.S. and Japanese markets. Japan is in the market research phase, while in the U.S., they have established a corporation and are currently holding meetings with potential clients. Park expects overseas sales to begin from the first quarter of next year.

Pagecall completed its Series A investment in 2019, with cumulative investments totaling 6.2 billion KRW. They are currently preparing to raise about 5 billion KRW in Series B funding. Park stated, "Our goal is to become a leading technology-based SaaS company representing Korea. I want to grow Flink into a kind of academy that is recognized when people say a company was founded by Flink alumni."

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