1) Tell us about your background and how you started the company.
My journey in starting Hank came from my experience as a first born Korean son trying to navigate the new reality of having parents who recently empty nested. The overarching narrative of my career has always been “When do I move home to be closer to them to provide the community they need?” As I observed their transition, I noticed that the community infrastructure for older adults was either non-existent or fragmented. I wanted to bring my experience in building beloved consumer products at companies, such as Zynga, ClassPass, and Codecademy, to act on this insight and build a community product for the most underserved community in the tech ecosystem, older adults.
2) What are the key problems you are addressing and how you are delivering value to customers?
Currently 1 in 3 older adults in the US are socially isolated and the impact of social isolation is equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes per day. In order to solve this problem, we created Hank. Hank is a platform that helps older adults build friendships and stay active in their communities – the keys to happiness and good health. We help adults 55+ meet new friends through activities that can include walks in the park, boat cruises, pickleball, coffee chats and so much more. Members can deepen these relationships by messaging each other on our platform and reconnecting with friends that they have made on Hank. In addition to helping older adults find community, Hank helps payers acquire new members as well as retain existing members.
3) What have you enjoyed or what do you look forward to about working with Tau Ventures?
Tau Ventures has been one of our earliest and most supportive investors. Amit and his team have been there from the beginning and have actively supported us through the highs and lows of company building. The team at Tau have great product sense and give entrepreneurs the space and time needed to iterate through solutions to end up with a product that works. In addition to supporting the company as a sounding board and through valuable introductions, the Tau Ventures team also cares about entrepreneurs as people and have supported me as my family has navigated health complications over the past year. Tau understands what it means to invest at the early stage and I look forward to working with them as we continue to grow Hank.
