Kakao Mobility, a ride hailing spinout of South Korea-based internet company Kakao, has raised ₩50bn ($46.6m) in funding from investors including Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), Korea Economic Daily reported today.
Pension fund managers Teacher Retirement System of Texas and University of California Retirement Plan joined the state-owned HKMA in the round. The latest investment represented approximately 3.1% of Kakao Mobility’s shares, according to a regulatory filing.
Kakao Mobility runs Kakao Taxi, the country’s most popular app-based ride hailing service according to Korea Economic Daily, as well as navigation and designated driver services.
The company was spun out in June 2017 with approximately $437m in funding from a consortium led by private equity group TPG and backed by, according to Korea Economic Daily, financial services provider Orix, venture capital firm Korea Investment Partners and all the latest investors.
The latest funding was disclosed shortly after Kakao Mobility acquired local carpooling platform Luxi for just over $23m.
The Luxi acquisition is intended to supplement a service that is overstretched at peak times, when there are insufficient lifts available to cater for the number of active users.