Daum Kakao to boost mobile business
K Cube Ventures founder named new CEO
By Yoon Sung-won
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Rim Ji-hoon K Cube Ventures founder
Daum Kakao, operator of the nation’s top mobile messenger KakaoTalk, named a venture capital head as its new sole chief, Monday, shifting from the leadership of co-CEOs Choi Sae-hoon and Lee Sirgoo.
K Cube Ventures Founder Rim Ji-hoon, 35, will become the new CEO of Daum Kakao on Sept. 23 if shareholders and the board of directors approve the appointment, the company said.
The move came as the IT giant is seeking fresh momentum to better deal with rapid changes in the mobile services and platform market as its growth is slowing in the mobile game platform business.
“Rim is a younger and more mobile-native leader compared with current co-CEOs Choi and Lee, who started their careers in the era of personal computers,” a Daum Kakao spokeswoman said. “We believe Rim is capable of leading the company to quickly react in running our new mobile businesses.”
Rim studied industrial engineering at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and worked at NHN and Boston Consulting Group before founding the investment firm K Cube Ventures in 2012.
Under the partnership with Daum Kakao, K Cube Ventures has invested in more than 50 local startups including Fincon, Red Sahara and Frograms.
“At K Cube Ventures, Rim has led successful investments mainly in mobile game and service startups at their earliest stage, even when their services were rolled out into the market,” the spokeswoman said. “He has been considered as a venture investor with an insight to discover valuable new growth engines.”
Rim said, “I feel both nervous and responsible to head Daum Kakao. I will do my utmost to make the company the global leader with a competitive edge in the mobile sector.”
Daum Kakao said Choi and Lee had suggested ending the co-CEO system and appointing a new sole chief. Choi and Lee, who used to head Daum Communications and Kakao, respectively, have been co-CEOs of the merged enterprise since October.
“It was a pleasure to take charge of the beginning of Daum Kakao. We have recommended Rim because we believe he is well-qualified to lead the mobile business,” Choi said in a statement.
Daum Kakao said Choi and Lee will support the new leadership while it has not yet been decided which roles or positions the two co-CEOs will hold after Rim’s inauguration.
Alongside the positions as co-CEOs, Choi is in charge of human resources, planning, financial and general affairs of the company while Lee is working as the team leader in public relations and external affairs.