By Lee Min-hyung
Kakao, the operator of the nation's dominant messaging app, Kakao Talk, has successfully launched Kakao Bank, attracting more than 1 million customers since its inception last Thursday.
Also, it has launched a new subsidiary dedicated to enhancing expertise for a series of its transportation app services.
The company spun off the transportation-related service unit, Kakao Mobility, into a separate entity Tuesday, Kakao said in a statement.
Kakao Mobility will be in charge of developing service quality for such platforms as taxi-hailing app Kakao Taxi and chauffeur service Kakao Driver.
The new subsidiary, headed by CEO Chung Joo-hwan, is comprised of more than 150 employees. Chung said Kakao Mobility would push ahead with swift and bold decision-making processes as a key building block to drive innovation for the nation's mobile and transportation industry.
"We begin the new subsidiary with a sense of expectation and nervousness, but one thing we can say for sure is that the business will grow bigger at a faster pace," said Chung, who served as vice president at Kakao.
"We will create new value in all mobility areas encompassing transportation and movement, proving our innovative spirit on global territory as the nation's representative mobility service operator that can rival such overseas firms as Uber, Didi Chuxing and Grab," he said.
For example, the company unveiled a plan to add a series of new functions into Kakao Taxi from the third quarter of the year. They include an enterprise-only taxi-hailing service or an auto-payment service linked with its mobile payment app Kakao Pay.
The transportation affiliate of Kakao made headlines last month by attracting a mega-investment of 500 billion won ($446.8 million) from a private equity fund based in the United States. At that time, Kakao Mobility sold its 30-percent stake in return for the contract with TPG.
The company is particularly expected to focus on improving its profitability by finding new growth areas in overseas territories. For the global expansion, the company signed a partnership with Japan's largest taxi-hailing service operator, JapanTaxi, in May.
Both firms agreed to launch a new service to allow their users to call a taxi anywhere in Korea and Japan by using any app from the two companies.
The Kakao affiliate is seeking to take advantage of the 14.9 million user base for its Kakao Taxi service. The company estimates more than five million Korean tourists can benefit from the service upon visiting Japan each year.
Last month, Kakao CEO Lim Ji-hoon and Chung also met with Volkswagen executives to discuss their partnership in connected and driverless vehicles.
Kakao, the operator of the nation's dominant messaging app, Kakao Talk, has successfully launched Kakao Bank, attracting more than 1 million customers since its inception last Thursday.
Also, it has launched a new subsidiary dedicated to enhancing expertise for a series of its transportation app services.
The company spun off the transportation-related service unit, Kakao Mobility, into a separate entity Tuesday, Kakao said in a statement.
Kakao Mobility will be in charge of developing service quality for such platforms as taxi-hailing app Kakao Taxi and chauffeur service Kakao Driver.
The new subsidiary, headed by CEO Chung Joo-hwan, is comprised of more than 150 employees. Chung said Kakao Mobility would push ahead with swift and bold decision-making processes as a key building block to drive innovation for the nation's mobile and transportation industry.
"We begin the new subsidiary with a sense of expectation and nervousness, but one thing we can say for sure is that the business will grow bigger at a faster pace," said Chung, who served as vice president at Kakao.
"We will create new value in all mobility areas encompassing transportation and movement, proving our innovative spirit on global territory as the nation's representative mobility service operator that can rival such overseas firms as Uber, Didi Chuxing and Grab," he said.
For example, the company unveiled a plan to add a series of new functions into Kakao Taxi from the third quarter of the year. They include an enterprise-only taxi-hailing service or an auto-payment service linked with its mobile payment app Kakao Pay.
The transportation affiliate of Kakao made headlines last month by attracting a mega-investment of 500 billion won ($446.8 million) from a private equity fund based in the United States. At that time, Kakao Mobility sold its 30-percent stake in return for the contract with TPG.
The company is particularly expected to focus on improving its profitability by finding new growth areas in overseas territories. For the global expansion, the company signed a partnership with Japan's largest taxi-hailing service operator, JapanTaxi, in May.
Both firms agreed to launch a new service to allow their users to call a taxi anywhere in Korea and Japan by using any app from the two companies.
The Kakao affiliate is seeking to take advantage of the 14.9 million user base for its Kakao Taxi service. The company estimates more than five million Korean tourists can benefit from the service upon visiting Japan each year.
Last month, Kakao CEO Lim Ji-hoon and Chung also met with Volkswagen executives to discuss their partnership in connected and driverless vehicles.
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