By Lee Min-hyung
Kakao, the operator of the nation’s leading mobile messenger app KakaoTalk, is boosting efforts to expand its business into agriculture converged with information and communication technology (ICT).
The company said Monday that K Cube Group, the investment affiliate of Kakao, acquired 33 percent of Manna Controlled Environment Agriculture (Manna CEA), an agricultural technology startup founded in 2013.
The move comes while the IT company is expanding investments in local venture companies to seek a next-generation growth engine in order to rapidly deal with slowing growth in its mobile platform business.
“We decided to invest in the environmentally friendly agricultural products market which is expected to grow 12 percent each year,” said K Venture Group CEO John Park in a statement. “The Manna CEA’s technological expertise and profitable business model will produce synergies by teaming up with Kakao.”
Manna CEA holds automated farming technology, providing total solutions from building environmentally friendly farms to their maintenance. It has recently started to sell organic products on its website.
The company said it expects a paradigm shift in the agricultural industry with Kakao. We have focused on just producing farm products by using our ICT expertise, but now we are able to communicate with farmers and customers with Kakao’s communication channel.
Meanwhile, K Venture Group is a company Kakao established in January. The KakaoTalk operator previously said it will contribute to building a co-existing ecosystem by making more investments into venture firms in various sectors.