Jeong Saeju (; born 1981) is an American entrepreneur and a co-founder, chairman, and the former CEO of

Noom Noom is an American privately held company that provides weight loss, fitness, and mental health services through a subscription-based mobile application, mobile app. Founded in 2008, Noom combines digital health tools with an emphasis on behavi ...

, a weight loss company.

Early life and education

Jeong was born in 1981, in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, to a family of doctors. In 2001, he founded BuyHard Productions, an

independent music label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represente ...

with a focus on heavy metal. In 2002, he joined the

Republic of Korea Army The Republic of Korea Army (ROKA; ), also known as the ROK Army or South Korean Army, is the army of South Korea, responsible for ground-based warfare. It is the largest of the military branches of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces with 365,0 ...

as an IT specialist. He pursued a

Bachelor of Engineering A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded to a college graduate majoring in an engineering discipline at a higher education institution. In the United Kingdom, a Ba ...

degree from

Hongik University Hongik University (; colloquially as Hongdae) is a private university in Mapo District, Mapo, Seoul, South Korea. It was founded in 1946. The university also maintains a branch campus in Sejong City. The university's colloquial name, "Hongdae ...

, but in 2005, he dropped out to move to

Manhattan, New York Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

Career

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

, Jeong met Noom co-founder Artem Petakov. In 2007, the two established WorkSmart Labs and itsfirst prototype, a stationary-bike accessory. Jeong worked various sales jobs and as a

food delivery Food delivery is a courier service in which a restaurant, store, or independent food-delivery company delivers food to a customer. An order is typically made either by telephone, through the supplier's website or mobile app, or through a thir ...

driver. In 2011, WorkSmart rebranded to Noom and raised a US$2.6 million seed round led by

Kleiner Perkins Kleiner Perkins, formerly Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), is an American venture capital firm which specializes in investing in incubation, early stage and growth companies. Since its founding in 1972, the firm has backed entrepreneur ...

. Noom relaunched in 2017 with a subscription-based weight-management app. In 2020, Jeong was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. In 2021, Noom raised $540 million in funding, valuing the company at $3.7 billion. In 2023, Jeong stepped down as Noom CEO and was replaced by Geoff Cook, a founder of

The Meet Group The Meet Group, Inc. (formerly MeetMe) owns several dating Dating app, app networking services including MeetMe, hi5, LOVOO, Growlr, Skout, and Tagged (website), Tagged. The company has offices in New Hope, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, San Francisc ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeong, Saeju Living people 1981 births American technology chief executives American technology company founders 21st-century American businesspeople South Korean chief executives South Korean company founders 21st-century South Korean businesspeople Hongik University alumni