Highlights:
- South Korea’s Kakao Mobility secured a strategic investment from Google.
- Both companies are planning for expansion in foreign and domestic markets.
- Kakao Mobility has expanded its portfolio after the launch of Kakao T.
- Carlyle Group in February agreed to invest about USD 200 million in Kakao Mobility.
- Expert’s view.
Secured strategic investment
South Korea’s Kakao Mobility secured a strategic investment of about USD 50.1 million (56.5 billion Korean won) from Google. Both companies are planning expansion in foreign and domestic markets as well as will discover new business prospects.
On April 1, 2021, during regulatory filing, a South Korean firm disclosed that Google International LLC would acquire approximately 970,848 new stocks to control a 1.69% stake in Kakao Mobility.
What has Google and Kakao Mobility decided?
Google and Kakao Mobility will update cloud-based AI (artificial intelligence) technology by giving it a modern touch and will also collaborate in internet-of-things (IoT) and cloud services. Together, both companies are finding ways to collaborate on Google services and Kakao Mobility’s platform and cooperate on several operating system software.
Kakao T – a mobile-based app
Kakao Mobility has expanded its portfolio after Kakao T’s launch, a smartphone-based app for taxi-hailing service in 2015. Kakao T offers a car park reservation service, driver service, public transport information service, and a taxi-hailing service. As per the company’s report, there are about 28 million users registered with Kakao T. Also, in 2020 recorded 5.8 million Kakao T monthly users.
Extra pointers
In February, Carlyle Group, an international investment firm, agreed to invest about USD 200 million in Kakao Mobility.
Expert take
Ryu Gung-seon, Co-CEO of Kakao Mobility, commented: “We will maximize synergy to grow into a global key player through long-term cooperation with Google and play a role as a hub to help competent Korean companies realize innovative services.”
