What Taling does

Taling is a South Korean online skill-learning marketplace that connects individual tutors with learners across categories including health/self-care, foreign languages, investment and side-income, marketing/creative, and hobbies/culture. The platform operates as a self-serve, two-sided marketplace where tutors independently register, list, and price their content, while learners discover classes through real-time, weekly, and monthly ranking systems. Core product formats include video-on-demand (VOD) courses, challenge-based programs with structured timelines, downloadable ebooks, and on/offline in-person sessions, supported by Taling Studio (tutor creation tools), Taling Partners (tutor monetization program), and Taling Biz (B2B corporate training at biz.taling.me).

The company monetizes via a marketplace commission on tutor-learner transactions, explicitly positioning itself as a "communication sales broker" that does not bear obligations for tutor-registered product information. Pricing is set by tutors and varies widely — VOD subscriptions from 8,000 to 24,750 KRW/month, challenge classes 14,500-24,725 KRW/month, ebooks 5,000-99,000 KRW, and on/offline hourly rates from 5,000 to 100,000 KRW. Sub-brands include Taling Studio and Taling Partners on the supply side and 기업교육 (Taling Biz) for enterprise buyers, distributing via a dedicated web platform, Instagram, YouTube, and a Naver blog channel.

Taling was founded in 2015 (firmographics) / 2018 (company history record) and is led by Co-Founder & CEO Yun hwan Kim and Co-Founder & Executive of Product Young-Kyung Kim. The company has raised approximately $21.7M across three disclosed rounds between 2019 and 2021, with strategic participation from MegaStudyEdu across the 2020 and 2021 rounds. The company employs 51-100 people and is headquartered in Seongsu-dong, Seoul. In October 2025, the Korea Fair Trade Commission ordered Taling, alongside KMong.com and Soomgo.com, to correct allegedly unfair terms and conditions in user agreements, creating an ongoing regulatory overhang on the marketplace model.

Name

Taling

Legal name

(주)탈잉 (Taling Inc.)

Website

https://taling.me

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Taling is a South Korean online skill-learning marketplace connecting individual tutors with learners via VOD courses, challenge programs, ebooks, and on/offline sessions. It serves consumer self-learners with a complementary B2B corporate training offering (Taling Biz) and monetizes through marketplace commissions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Learning Marketplace

NAICS

Language Schools (611630), Language Schools (61163), Exam Preparation and Tutoring (611691)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

General Language Tutoring (Conversation & Fluency) (EDANACAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Exam Preparation for Language Proficiency (TOEFL/IELTS/DELE/HSK/JLPT, etc.) (EDAMAFAF), In-Person Language Tutoring & Small-Group Classes (EDAMAFAE), Foreign Language Subject Tutoring (School Coursework) (EDANAAAF)

Keywords

• Online learning marketplace
• Skill development classes
• Video on demand courses
• Corporate training solutions
• Creator economy platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Yeoksamdong

HQ country

South Korea

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Marketplace Commission: Taling operates as a communication sales broker, connecting tutors who sell classes (VOD, challenge, ebook, on/offline formats) with learners. The platform takes a commission on transactions. Taling explicitly states it is not a party to transactions and does not bear obligations for tutor-registered product information.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Taling is a Korean online learning marketplace that connects independent tutors with individual learners, offering multiple class formats including video-on-demand (VOD) courses, structured challenge-based programs, downloadable ebooks, and in-person online/offline sessions. The platform takes a commission on tutor transactions and operates across six main categories: health/self-care, foreign languages, finance/side income, marketing/creative, business/career, and hobbies/culture.

Product overview

Taling is a Korean online learning marketplace operating as a platform connecting expert tutors with students seeking skill development. The platform offers multiple learning formats: VOD (video-on-demand) subscription courses, 챌린지 (challenge-based programs) with structured timelines, downloadable 전자책 (ebooks), and 온/오프라인 (online/offline) in-person classes. Core sub-brands include 탈잉 스튜디오 (Taling Studio) for content creation tools, 탈잉 파트너스 (Taling Partners) for tutor monetization, and 기업교육 (Taling Biz) for B2B corporate training. The platform spans diverse categories including 건강·자기관리 (health/self-care), 외국어 (foreign languages), 재테크·부업 (investment/side income), 마케팅·크리에이티브 (marketing/creative), and 취미·문화 (hobbies/culture), with a real-time best classes ranking system.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• 탈잉 (Taling): A platform for individual tutors to offer online and offline classes across categories including health, finance, marketing, and creative skills.
• 기업교육 (Taling Biz)
• 탈잉 스튜디오 (Taling Studio)

Products and services

• Taling Online Learning Marketplace (탈잉) Korean online learning marketplace connecting independent tutors with students for video-on-demand (VOD) courses, challenge programs, ebooks, and offline classes across categories including health, finance, languages, marketing, and hobbies.
• Taling Biz Corporate Training (기업교육) B2B corporate training solution offering customized learning programs for businesses and organizations, leveraging the Taling tutor network for employee upskilling.
• Taling Studio (탈잉 스튜디오) Studio tool/platform for tutors to create and manage their course content on the Taling platform.
• Taling Partners (탈잉 파트너스) Partner program for tutors to join and monetize their expertise by creating courses on the Taling platform.

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• KMong: Korean online freelance and class marketplace connecting experts with learners across categories. Taling's closest direct peer, and was named alongside Taling in the same KFTC regulatory order in October 2025, indicating highly overlapping business models and customer bases.
• Soomgo: Korean services marketplace originally for local services and now expanding into online classes. Also subject to the same KFTC order as Taling; competes for the same Korean individual tutors and learners.
• Class101: Korean subscription-based online class platform offering video lessons across creative, lifestyle, and hobby categories. Closely comparable subscription/learning format and target audience to Taling's VOD and Challenge products.
• Inflearn: Korean online learning marketplace dominated by IT/developer and professional courses, but with growing coverage of broader skill categories. Comparable two-sided marketplace model competing for the same Korean creator and learner pool.

Broad incumbents

• Megastudy (MegaStudyEdu): Major Korean education company covering K-12, test prep, and adult learning. An investor in Taling across two rounds; represents a broader incumbent in Korean education that overlaps with Taling's language, finance, and career categories.
• Udemy: Global online learning marketplace with a similar tutor-upload, multi-format course catalog model. Useful comparable for marketplace economics and creator-led content strategy even though geographic focus differs.
• Skillshare: Subscription-based online class marketplace focused on creative and lifestyle categories. Comparable category mix to Taling's marketing/creative and hobby verticals and similar commission/subscription business model.
• Coursera: Large-scale online learning platform with courses across business, technology, and personal development. Comparable in skill-learning breadth and online delivery, though Coursera is more credentialing-focused and enterprise-led.

Regional players

• Weverse: Korean-platform-affiliated community and content platform from HYBE. While not a direct tutor marketplace, it shares Taling's Korean creator/fan base and demonstrates alternative models for monetizing Korean expert content creators online.
• Danggeun Market (Karrot): Korean peer-to-peer marketplace. Not a learning platform but a leading Korean marketplace with established two-sided network effects, useful as a regional comparable for marketplace dynamics and competitive intensity in Korea.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCuFmmpVLaNNFoy-cHqELl_A
• Instagraminstagram.com/taling_official
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/taling

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors6 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Taling