April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Korean internet giant Kakao recently spun off its mobility business unit that is best known for taxi-hailing app KakaoTaxi to set up a new entity called Kakao Mobility, industry sources said on June 23.

Sources said the new entity was set up on May 8 with initial funding of 200 million won (US$175,000) from the parent company. Vice President Jung Joo-hwan who has been leading the mobility business unit, was named the first CEO. 

About 150 Kakao employees are expected to be relocated to Kakao Mobility soon along with additional funding.

Although market rumors suggest 500 billion won fresh funding from private equity firms like TPG and ORIX , the company reiterated nothing has been decided.

Kakao said the spin-off is aimed at strengthening its leadership in the mobility business market and speeding up overall decision-making process.

Kakao Mobility operates KakaoTaxi, chauffer service KakaoDriver and KakaoNavi. It plans to launch new services, including a parking lot reservation app, later this year.

By Park Ga-young (gypark@heraldcorp.com)