Kakao Mobility shares knowhow with startups in Vietnam

Kakao Mobility CEO Ryu Gung-seon, front row fifth from left, poses with Vietnamese startup representatives after a business discussion in Hanoi, Thursday. Courtesy of Kakao Mobility

By Kim Jae-heun

Kakao Mobility held a meeting with Vietnamese startups in the mobility and tourism sectors, discussing ways to establish a technology cooperation system in the nation's startup ecosystem, the company said Friday.

Company CEO Ryu Gung-seon and top executives accompanied President Yoon Suk Yeol on his state visit to Vietnam as members of an economic mission.

The company plans to share its mobility technology and platform construction experience with local startups and discover various cooperative models that can expand information technology exchanges between Korea and Vietnam.

“Beyond Korea's cooperation with Vietnam in the manufacturing and real estate sectors over the past 30 years, Kakao Mobility expects to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam in the IT and service sectors,” Kakao Mobility CEO Ryu said.

The company first met with representatives of Vietnam's leading mobility and tourism startups such as Ship60, EcoTruck, Otocity and Tubudd to explore the direction and exchange of platform technology and services between the two countries, Thursday.

Ship60 provides a B2B fulfillment service platform and on-demand delivery services. EcoTruck operates a B2B logistics brokerage platform and transportation service. Otocity runs a digital trading platform for used cars and Tubudd provides a matching platform service for local travel experts to help with hotel and vehicle reservations as well as tour guides and interpretation.

The mobility company also shared insights into local technology infrastructure and startup ecosystems with public transportation platform company Phenikaa MaaS and its autonomous driving, robot technology subsidiary Phenikaa X, and Korean startup accelerator TheVentures, which entered the Vietnamese market in 2015.

“As a representative platform company in Korea, we will help Vietnam build its own platform success model and help Vietnam and Korea's startup ecosystem with excellent capabilities to expand exchanges,” Ryu said.