Kakao Mobility attracts 220 billion won investment from Carlyle… Valuation of 3 trillion won in corporate value

Input 2021.02.18 17:20 | Revision 2021.02.18 17:31

Kakao Mobility announced on the 18th that it has attracted 200 million dollars (about 220 billion won) investment from the Carlyle Group, a global investment company. The enterprise value was evaluated at 3.4 trillion won. The company is expected to be more aggressive in expanding new businesses and investing in technology based on large-scale investments.

This investment attraction took place three and a half years after the US TPG investment in 2017. At the time, Kakao Mobility received an investment of 500 billion won and was evaluated at about 1.6 trillion won in corporate value. The corporate value has more than doubled. The company explained that the domestic mobility market is growing, and Kakao Mobility’s competitiveness and mid- to long-term growth potential have been recognized.

Kakao (035720)Since starting the taxi calling business in March 2015, the division spun off the business unit with Kakao Mobility in 2017 to initiate mobility services. Kakao Mobility added a variety of mobility services such as proxy driving, electric kickboard, shuttle bus, and parking lot to the’Kakao T’app.

In March of last year, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport received a temporary driving permit for autonomous vehicles, and is accelerating to evolve into a MaaS (Mobility as a Service) platform.

Gung-seon Ryu, CEO of Kakao Mobility, said, “Based on this investment, we have grown to a level that can compete with global players in terms of technology as well as scale, solving all the inconveniences of mobility and creating a more leisurely and valuable daily life. Will be able to realize faster.”