Cho Hyun-koo, CEO of Classting, was named "Next Generation Leader (Young Global Leader)" by the World Economic Forum (WEF), the global edu tech start-up said on March 12.
The WEF selects the next-generation leaders by receiving recommendations from around the world for people under 40 years of age and evaluating their achievements in professional fields and contributions to society.
This year, 114 out of the more than 2,000 candidates were selected, including New Zealand's first refugee-turned-lawmaker Golriz Gharhaman, Finland's youngest prime minister Sanna Marine and Xiaomi's head of international business, Chew Shou Zi.
Cho is the only Korean pick this year and is particularly noteworthy in that he is the first in the nation's education sector. The 2020 World Economic Forum, held in Davos, Switzerland in January, discussed the new primary and secondary education system "Education 4.0," which is suitable for future societies and jobs, as its main agenda item, stressing the importance of educational innovation.
In 2012, CEO Cho, who was serving as a teacher, developed and distributed educational SNS to help reduce the gap in educational information and help schools and families communicate effectively.
Since then, based on the mission of finding and solving school difficulties, he established Classting, an edu tech start-up, and provided free school platform services.
Currently, Classting has grown into an educational platform used by 90 percent of schools nationwide and more than 5.5 million teachers, students and parents worldwide. Recently, it was recognized for both social values of public education innovation and sustainable business models, attracting about 6 billion won in impact investment from venture capitals Mistletoe and Yellowdog.
"I feel a greater sense of duty because I was selected as the Young Global Leader in a difficult time in the world," said CEO Cho, adding, "Classting is an edu-tech company that leads innovation in the school field, and we will do our best to ensure that there is no vacuum in education in the face of the current crisis.