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Naver to set up investment arm for Silicon Valley startups

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By Nam Hyun-woo
  • Published KST
Naver Board Chairman Lee Hae-jin speaks during Venturing Naver’s Next Chapter event at Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley in Palo Alto, Calif., Thursday (local time). Courtesy of Naver

Naver Board Chairman Lee Hae-jin speaks during Venturing Naver’s Next Chapter event at Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley in Palo Alto, Calif., Thursday (local time). Courtesy of Naver

Korea’s internet service conglomerate Naver will establish an investment arm in Silicon Valley to back promising tech startups, with video artificial intelligence (AI) startup Twelve Labs confirmed as its first investment target.

According to Naver on Sunday, Naver Ventures will complete its establishment within this month, with Chief Financial Officer Kim Nam-sun leading the investment firm.

Before its official launch, the company's executives held a networking event titled “Venturing Naver’s Next Chapter” at Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley on Thursday (local time), with Naver Board Chairman Lee Hae-jin, CEO Choi Soo-yeon and Kim attending.

The event drew about 200 participants, including prominent entrepreneurs, engineers and investors based in Silicon Valley. Sendbird CEO Kim Dong-shin, Moloco CEO Ahn Ik-jin and Kim Sung-moo of DataRise were among participants.

“At a time when many startups are struggling to secure funding due to global uncertainty, Naver aims to play a supportive role not only in Korea but also in North America, helping them receive stable investment and continue developing their technologies and businesses,” Choi said.

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Lee noted that cooperation with partners is important for the diversity in the era of AI, and pledged the company’s continued investments for talent.

Twelve Labs was founded by CEO Jae Lee in 2020 as an AI-based video analysis company. It develops AI models that can analyze and understand conversations, context and actions within videos. While there are many chat- or image-based AI models, video analysis remains a largely unexplored field.

The company created headlines in recent years as global tech giants, including Nvidia and Intel, made handsome investments into the company. Twelve Labs is estimated to have raised more than $100 million in funding so far.