[Dongguk University Campus Town x IT Donga] Dongguk University Campus Town is collaborating with IT Donga to conduct the '2025 Scale-Up Program'. Dongguk University Campus Town and IT Donga will introduce the overall business activities of the startups participating in this program and analyze their business models. They aim to assist in solving challenges that arise when advancing to the next stage by connecting with experts from various fields.

Domino Effect is a company that developed the app 'HAMO' to train foreign caregivers to address the care gap for the elderly. The HAMO app helps foreigners who wish to obtain a caregiver qualification to access lecture content in their native language anytime, anywhere, and also provides an error note for vulnerable types. Domino Effect aims to significantly increase the pass rate of foreign caregivers with the HAMO app to contribute to alleviating the care gap.
Severe Shortage of Elderly Care Workforce... Development of 'HAMO App' to Train Foreign Caregivers to Fill the Gap

The care gap in Korea, which has entered a super-aged society, is becoming increasingly severe each year. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, about 1.55 million caregivers are expected to be lacking by 2042. More than 90% of the remaining caregivers are in their 50s, and the aging of the care workforce is also intensifying. The government is actively promoting the use of foreign workers to alleviate the manpower shortage, but the situation is challenging. This is because foreigners must overcome language barriers and pass the qualification exam to become caregivers. Kim Ah-hyun, CEO of Domino Effect, has directly experienced the seriousness of the care gap.

She stated, "Thanks to my mother working as a social worker at a day care center, I grew up observing the care field closely. Through this process, I could feel how severe the caregiver manpower shortage and care gap are. As the shortage of care workers worsens each year, the training of foreign caregivers is urgently needed. However, it was heartbreaking to see foreigners who wanted to obtain caregiver qualifications fail the same exam on average 4 to 5 times due to language barriers."

Kim Ah-hyun continued, "After obtaining the caregiver qualification myself, I understood why foreigners fail the exam. Currently, most foreign caregiver qualification exam education is conducted offline in Korean. Foreigners mainly use translators to understand the educational content composed of difficult terms at the lecture site. They cannot focus on the class because they are interpreting the vast amount of lectures with a translator," she analyzed. "Foreigners must complete a total of 320 hours of education to obtain a caregiver qualification, but it is too much to review by interpreting the classes heard offline, leading to repeated failures in the exam."

To increase the pass rate of foreign caregivers, Kim Ah-hyun established Domino Effect and embarked on technology development. She set a goal to create significant social value by addressing the severe care gap with technology. Developers with family members who are caregivers also joined to accelerate the development of practical technology. As a result, they were able to develop the HAMO app, which assists foreigners in obtaining caregiver qualifications. She cited the competitiveness of the HAMO app as ▲multilingual learning function ▲customized learning function ▲offline learning support function.
Kim Ah-hyun emphasized, "To improve the issue of foreigners not being able to focus on lecture content due to translating Korean, the HAMO app includes a multilingual learning function. It supports not only Korean but also Vietnamese, Russian, English, and Chinese, with plans to update Mongolian and Nepali," she said. "The customized learning function is also a strength of the HAMO app. It not only simply translates languages but also measures problem-solving time and helps with step-by-step review. It provides an error note for frequently incorrect types, increasing the exam pass rate. An offline learning support function is also included to study on mobile in places with poor internet environments."

Reflecting Foreigners' Feedback to Enhance Technology…“AI-Based Customized Learning Engine to Increase Achievement”

Domino Effect encountered several trial and error processes before launching the HAMO app.

Kim Ah-hyun recalled, "Feedback from foreigners, the direct users, was a great help in the development and enhancement process of the HAMO app. For example, reflecting the feedback from foreigners who complained that providing problems only in their native language was inconvenient since the exam is in Korean anyway, we provided the problems in Korean," she said. "This received a great response and actually helped increase the pass rate."

She continued, "When conducting a beta test with five Koryo-saram at the Cheongju Foreign Resident Center, I also realized the importance of offline seminars. Instead of providing online learning content from the beginning, guiding learning through the HAMO app after solving difficult problems in an offline lecture format at seminars significantly increased app usage frequency and retention time. As a result, three out of five passed the first exam. I realized the importance of offline learning experiences for foreigners who are unfamiliar with everything and am meeting foreigners using the HAMO app nationwide," she said.
Domino Effect plans to expand the supported languages of the HAMO app to broaden learner recruitment.

Kim Ah-hyun stated, "The most urgent task for enhancing the HAMO app is the stable expansion of content and the expansion of learner recruitment channels. The caregiver qualification exam is periodically revamped, and the nationalities of foreign learners are gradually diversifying. Therefore, we plan to expand the supported languages to Mongolia, Nepal, etc. in the future," she said. "To expand learner recruitment, we are also pursuing a business agreement with the Foreign Caregiver Training College (designated in 2026). We plan to recruit learners in cooperation with local governments and foreign support centers. We also plan to enhance the data-based learning recommendation engine to strengthen personalized learning experiences," she said.

She continued, "From the establishment of Domino Effect to the launch of the HAMO app, we collaborated with Dongguk University, receiving support from entrepreneurship support programs and mentoring. Through this process, we concretized our business plan and enhanced IR pitching materials and investor storylines. Thanks to Dongguk University's social value creation startup support network, we were able to effectively promote the HAMO app to external organizations," she recalled. "It is difficult for a startup to grow on its own, but I realized that it can advance much faster when there is a helper who sets the direction beside it," she said.
Finally, the future plans of Domino Effect were heard.

Kim Ah-hyun stated, "The members of Domino Effect have set the goal of 'creating a society where both those who receive care and those who provide care are satisfied.' To achieve this, we plan to continuously update the textbooks and question banks that can be learned with the HAMO app and increase achievement with an AI-based customized learning engine," she said. "We will not stop at simply producing caregiver passers but will also introduce a matching service that connects passers with care facilities. We will establish a comprehensive support system that connects to E-7-4, D-10, and F-6 visas to help foreign caregivers settle. We aim to expand the service to manpower-exporting countries such as Mongolia and Nepal beyond Vietnam. We will devote ourselves to research and development to create a new entry path for foreign care workers," she said.

IT Donga Reporter Kim Dong-jin (kdj@itdonga.com)

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