South Korea-based ride hailing service Kakao Mobility has secured ₩56.5bn ($50m) from internet technology provider Google, Reuters has reported.
Kakao Mobility was formed in 2015 as Kakao Taxi and spun off by internet group Kakao two years later. It offers on-demand rides, parking management, navigation, intercity buses and shuttles to its customers, and its core machine learning-equipped app, Kakao T, has 28 million users.
The company launched with $437m in a 2017 round led by private equity firm TPG and backed by financial services firm Orix, Korea Investment Partners, Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Teacher Retirement System of Texas and University of California Retirement Plan.
Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Teacher Retirement System of Texas and University of California Retirement Plan all took part in a $46.6m round for Kakao Mobility in 2018.
Private equity firm Carlyle Group’s Carlyle Asia Partners V fund subsequently provided $200m in funding for the company in February 2021, valuing it at over $3bn.
