Naver and Kakao chose this year's innovative startup field..."Medical, AI, and Commerce."

JNPMEDI
31 Dec 2021 · 5 minutes read

Naver and Kakao continued to make aggressive investments this year to secure new growth engines and enter the global market.

NAVER / KAKAO

"Discovering early technology startups → Strategic investment → Synergy promotion"

Naver and Kakao continued to make aggressive investments this year to secure new growth engines and enter the global market.

According to related industries on the 31st, Naver D2SF has invested heavily in tech startups in metaverse, commerce, and artificial intelligence (AI) fields this year. Including both new and follow-up investments, technology accounts for 24% (metaverse), 21% (commerce), and 17% (AI), respectively, accounting for a total of about 62%.

First, investment in content technology startups suitable for metaverse platforms such as 3D, virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR) was prominent.

In October this year, it was newly invested in 'Gaudio Lab', an audio technology startup, and in the commerce sector, it invested in 'RECON Labs' in June. RECON Labs is a company that develops a Web AR commerce solution that automatically generates a 3D model when a product is filmed with a smartphone. G-motion' is a 3D simulation engine system that specializes in fashion and realistically implements fabric materials and pattern changes and received investment from D2SF.

Follow-up investments in existing investment companies were also more active. It made its third investment in AI semiconductor startup "Furiosa AI" after 2017 and 2019, and subsequently invested in logistics IT startup "Tech Taka."

Naver D2SF (D2 Startup Factory) announced its plan to continue discovering early technology startups and investing in strategies more aggressively.

Kakao also continued to invest in various startups such as content, commerce, and solutions. In March, it invested in Mixer, a 3D AR and VR content platform based on spatial computing technology, and Kinolights, an integrated search and content search platform for online video services (OTT).

It also invested in Butfit Seoul, an online and offline group workout platform, and 39 degrees C, a multi-camera live broadcasting technology company. And in content platform 'NEWNEEK' and AR commerce solution development and platform operator 'RICON Labs', Kakao's integrated funeral platform "Goi Funeral Research Institute" and medical data platform "JNPMEDI" are also startups that Kakao ventures has paid attention to.

In addition, it also supported the growth of Lemon Base, which develops and operates HR SaaS for enterprises, and SeedN, an IoT-based energy control solution company.

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