20 Things You Didn’t Know about Kakao Mobility
Kakao Mobility is an online company that provides parking and taxi-hailing services for consumers. The startup has received attention in business news recently for its most recent round of corporate fundraising that has pushed it to new levels in its valuation. If you’re not yet familiar with this company, it’s making significant contributions to the Asian transportation system industry. Here are 20 things you probably didn’t know bout Kakao Mobility to bring you up to speed.
1. Kakao Mobility is known by various names
According to Crunchbase, Kakao Mobility is a taxi-hailing and parking service that is listed under a few different names. This is because there are multiple brands in operation under its umbrella. Kakao Mobile is a subsidiary itself under its parent company the Kakao Corporation. You’re dealing with the same company whether you work with Kakao Taxi, Kakao Driver, or Kakao Navi, as these brands are under the Kakao Mobile banner. The legal name is Kakao Mobility Co., Ltd.
2. Kakao Mobile is a new company
Kakao Mobile is a spinoff under the Kakao Corporation. It was founded in 2017 and has only been in operation officially for four years. The business is still in its initial developmental stages, but it has grown and expanded quickly when compared with similar companies. Its growth is not unprecedented, but it comes close to being one of the fastest-growing businesses in South Korea. The headquarters for Kakao Mobile is situated in Seongnam, Kyonggi-do.
3. Kakao Mobile is designed for convenience
Consumers in South Korea appreciate the convenience that Kakao Mobile has to offer them. It’s becoming one of the more popular choices for fast and hassle-free transportation options because of the easy access for booking a ride. It offers an online service that is also compatible with mobile phones. People who need to schedule a ride can get on the website and arrange for their ride to arrive at any location. The services offer faster travel times versus public transportation options. It’s an online taxi service that can be used to get a ride within minutes, or trips can be booked in advance. It eliminates the need to wait for buses and wait while they stop at each pickup location.
4. Kakao Mobility uses a complex array of technologies for its website
The Kakao Mobility website functions smoothly and efficiently for users in need of booking a taxi ride. The company subscribes to 24 technologies to power its website. Some of the technology products and services that power its website include iPhone Mobile Compatible, SPF, Viewport Meta, and several others.
5. Kakao Mobility maintains uniqueness in its niche of the transportation industry
Kakao Mobility is a company that stands out from its competition in the ride-hailing industry. While it’s becoming the norm for these businesses to offer their services online, Kakao has implemented a few things that help it to stand out from the rest of these service providers. It maintains uniqueness through its three registered patents in the testing category. The intellectual property that gives them uniqueness is protected from imitation or copying by its rival ride-hailing businesses. Kakao Mobility isn’t giving away any of its secrets, but it’s not about sharing them either. The company seeks to make ride-hailing a smooth and seamless process from start to finish.
6. Kakao Mobiity is gaining popularity
The statistics maintained for Kakao Mobility show that the company is growing in popularity with its consumer base. Although it has only been in operation for four years, the number of monthly visits to the website is substantial. The data shows that in the past 30 days, a total of 19,063 people have visited the website. This number has resulted in Kakao being ranked as number 917,063 of the millions of websites registered on the world wide web.
7. Kakao Mobility is the most popular in South Korea
The largest percentage of visitors to the Kakao Mobility website is from people living in South Korea. The website has grown in its monthly rank growth by more than 25 percent. It’s also visited by people from other countries throughout the globe. Eighteen percent of the web traffic comes from the Czech Republic, four percent from the United Kingdom, and one percent is from Norway.
8. Kakao Mobility has a leadership team of 7 persons
The executive leadership team for Kakao Mobility is comprised of seven people. Chang-Min Lee is the chief financial officer. Seungil You is the chief technology officer. Ryu Gung-Seon is the chief executive officer. Joohwan Jung is also a CEO. Stefano Jang is a manager in charge of Mobility, project management, strategic partnership, and business strategy. Jongwon Chae is the head of the franchise business, and Taeksoo Lee is the Android developer. Although this team is small they have moved the company forward to new levels of success in a short time.
9. Kakao Mobility invests in other companies
We found it interesting that Kakao Mobility is also an investment business. So far they have taken the lead on one investment and made a total o two investments. It invested in Mobility Technologies in September of 2018 as a lead investor and also invested in JapanTaxi the same year. Kakao Mobility has holdings in other companies in the ride-hailing business.
10. Kakao Mobility has made one acquisition
In February of 2018, Kakao Mobility acquired a company called Luxi Co. Ltd. It is a business in Seongnam, Kyonggi-do South Korea that offers a ride-sharing platform that connects passengers and drivers who are going in similar directions. Kakao Mobility paid $23.3 million for the acquisition. The company had previously raised $13 million in its fundraising rounds.
11. Kakao Mobility has seven investors
Kakao Mobility has been successful in achieving rapid growth and expansion of its operations, in part, through the funding it has received from its investors. It is a late-stage corporate investment company that has participated in seven rounds of fundraising. The most recent Corporate Round of fundraising was completed on December 1, 2021. The total amount raised is $1 billion. Investors in Kakao Mobility include GS Retail, LG Group, National Pension Service, TPG, The Carlyle Group, Google, and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. A combination of venture capital and corporate fundraising rounds raised $1 billion. This astronomical amount of investment funds shows that investor confidence is high in the likelihood that Kakao Mobility will continue to grow and prosper. investors look forward to a healthy return on their investments.
12. Kakao Mobility is a unicorn business
According to Techcrunch, Kakao Mobility has accomplished a great feat by achieving unicorn status in its first four years of business. It joins the elite group of businesses that have a minimum valuation of $1 billion. Kakao Mobility has exceeded the requirement with its current valuation of over $4.2 billion.
13. Kakao’s investors own small stakes in the company
We also learned that each investor that has contributed to the fundraising efforts for Kakao Mobility has secured a small percentage of ownership in the company. With $1 billion invested, the agreements allow the owners to keep a controlling interest in the company. For example, GS Retail invested $55 million in Kakao Mobility. For this, GS Retail now has a 1.3 percent stake.
14. Kakao Mobility’s sister companies are public
Kakao Pay and Kakao Bank are also sister companies of Kakao Mobility, although separate entities from a legal point of view. These two companies join Kakao Mobility under the umbrella of their larger parent company. Although Kakao Mobility remains a privately held company, Both Kakao Pay and Kakao Bank filed for their initial public offerings and went public in August and November. It is unknown whether the parent company plans to take Kakao Mobility to the same level. For now, it is still privately owned.
15. Kakao Mobility is going autonomous
Although plans to take Kakao Mobility are still in the distance, the company has plans to move forward with a mobility platform that is powered by artificial intelligence. The most recent round of funding will supply the capital to move the company in this direction. They’re planning to develop their autonomous driving technology. They’re also engaging in agreements with GS Retail to launch a last-mile delivery and logistics business. It represents a vast expansion of its current service offings.
16. Kakao Mobility will cater to pet owners
Another new venture for Kakao Mobility is its new pet taxi service. The new service will provide pet owners with a mode of transportation that no longer requires them to restrain their pets in carriers. Pet parents can sit in the backseat with their pets either on their laps or sitting beside them. Kakao Mobility plans to launch this new service in South Korea within the coming year. It will cater to the needs and preferences of pet owners who are hesitant to put their pets in restrictive carriers. We’re waiting to hear more about the safety of such an arrangement. We’re assuming that the rules for public transport are different in South Korea.
17. Kakao Mobility serves millions
It impressed us with the massive number of people currently registered for Kakao Mobility’s ride-hailing app. According to the statistics provided to Techcrunch, there are over thirty million registered users. This massive amount of people is an astounding number, but it doubly impressed us to learn that Kakao Mobility employs 230,000 taxi drivers. It’s among the biggest employers in South Korea that supplies workers with hundreds of thousands of jobs. It’s no small wonder that the company has advanced so quickly to unicorn status. The ride-hailing service has become a leader in the transportation industry in South Korea. It is a disruptor for other providers.
18. Kakao Mobility is a revolutionary company
According to the Korea Economic Daily, the South Korean media is tagging Kakao Mobility as a leader in the Mobility as a Service industry in South Korea. The firm has taken a revolutionary approach to deliver convenient transportation options for the populous. Korean citizens have experienced a rebirth and entered a new age that has changed the world around them for the better. The technology-based app has taken the country into a new era.
19. Kakao Mobility is one company within the conglomerate
The parent company of Kakao Mobility owns businesses in almost every sector imaginable. They’re into payment platforms, banks, transportation systems that range from bikes to taxis. They’re preparing to move into the last-mile delivery and autonomous vehicle segments. We also learned that Kakao corporation owns the dominant mobile messenger service in South Korea, called Kakao Talk. In the big picture, Kakao Mobility is just one cog in the wheel, but it’s one that is growing at a fast pace.
20. Kakao Mobility is a company to keep your eye on
We assume that Kakao Mobility will continue to grow in size. We further believe that it will continue to expand its service offerings. It’s already changed the landscape of the country. Its convenient online rideshare platform and taxi service. They also rent electronic bikes, along with many other transportation services. These include a train, shuttle bus, navigation, parking, interstate bus, air travel, and more. It’s continuing to expand its horizons with its plans to add yet more services. The new delivery services division will soon add yet more features. It’s unknown whether they will take Kakao Mobility public in the future. If Kakao Corporation follows suit as it did with some of its other successful companies, we could easily see Kakao Mobility becoming an investment option through the public stock exchanges. It’s worth keeping your ear to the ground as we see this bright and rising star as an exceptional investment opportunity should shares of stock become available for sale and trading.
