Clify Secures 1.2B KRW funding for Mental Healthcare Counseling & AI Matching
The South Korean company ‘Pleasant Project,’ which operates the B2B mental healthcare platform ‘Clify,’ has secured an investment of KRW 1.2 billion. This funding round was led by Dunamu&Partners, with participation from 500 Global in Silicon Valley.
Pleasant Project targets the demand for psychological counseling among B2B customers, aiming to establish a healthy counseling culture and secure its market position. The company collaborates with psychiatrists to develop psychological counseling programs optimized for various issues faced by employees in corporations and institutions, including executives, lawyers, and firefighters. It also utilizes artificial intelligence to match these employees with specialist counselors, thereby providing services to corporations.
For this purpose, the company has appointed Professor Baek Jong-woo from Kyung Hee University Hospital, a leading authority in the field of mental health and post-traumatic stress, as its Chief Medical Officer (CMO). Additionally, 22 psychiatrists from both domestic and international backgrounds have joined as angel investors, enhancing the company’s expertise.
During its preliminary operational phase, Pleasant Project provided its services to five companies, including a major domestic entertainment planning agency, and has confirmed potential demand from corporations with upcoming EAP (Employee Assistance Program) contracts worth over KRW 100 million annually.
Hong Joo-yeol, the founder of Pleasant Project, previously founded the meal kit startup ‘Tasty9’ in 2015 and led it to become the only profitable company in the meal kit sector with a revenue of KRW 80 billion during its M&A with ‘Fresheasy‘ in 2022. Dunamu & Partners had previously invested in Tasty9, establishing an early connection.
Soojin Lim, a partner at Dunamu & Partners, expressed support for Hong Joo-yeol’s entrepreneurial journey, stating, “We look forward to supporting him once again, and based on his already proven strong business execution, we expect to create new social values in the mental health sector.”
Hong Joo-yeol, CEO of Pleasant Project, stated, “We aim to improve work efficiency and corporate growth by providing employees with effective mental care through our optimized programs and specialist counselor matching.” He also expressed his appreciation for the continued partnership with Dunamu & Partners, built on trust since his previous venture, and his ambition to create a new paradigm in mental healthcare.
[Korean Mentalcare Startup News]
