When was Kakao founded?

Kakao was founded in 2010 and raised its 1st funding round 1 year after it was founded.

Where is Kakao located?

Kakao is headquartered in Jeju-si, South Korea.

How many employees does Kakao have?

As of Jun 30, 2026, the latest employee count at Kakao is 3235.

Is Kakao a funded company?

Kakao is a funded company, having raised an undisclosed amount across 8 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a $***** Post IPO round, raised on Aug 29, 2011.

When was the latest funding round of Kakao?

Kakao's latest funding was a $***** Post IPO round on May 20, 2021, with participation from 0 investor.

Where does Kakao rank among its competitors?

Kakao ranks 3rd amongst 578 active competitors, of which 13 are funded. It stands 6th in terms of total funding among its competitors. The most recent competitor to raise funding was Bending Spoons, which secured $270M in Oct, 2025.

Who are the top competitors of Kakao?

Kakao's top competitors include ByteDance, Bending Spoons and NewBornTown. Among them, Bending Spoons secured the most recent funding round in October, 2025.

Kakao - 2026 Company Profile, Team, Funding & Competitors

Company Details

Online platform offering multi-category messaging and advertising applications. It provides services in the global mobile and internet markets based on human resources, technology, content, and competitive mobile traffic. It provides solutions ranging from messaging, news, advertising, gaming, e-commerce, and music.

Website: www.kakaocorp.com/page/
Social
Email ID: *****@kakaocorp.com
Phone Number: +82 **********

Key Metrics

Founded Year

2010

Location

Jeju-si, South Korea

Stage

Public

Latest Funding Round

Post IPO, May 20, 2021, $*****

Investors

Herald Investment Management & 20 more

Ranked

3^rd among 578 active competitors

Employee Count

3,235 as on Jun 30, 2026

Investment & Acquisitions

Paymons & 21 more

Similar Companies

ByteDance & 735 more

Exit Details

Public

View Kakao's full profile

Kakao is associated with 2 legal entities given below:

Legal Entity Name	Date of Incorporation	Revenue	Latest Employee Count	Documents
KAKAO CIN: 50103342721 , Latvia, Deadpooled	Nov 10, 2010	€0 - €1M (As on Dec 31, 2018)	5 (As on Dec 31, 2017)	-
kakao corp CIN: 35720 , United States, Active	Feb 15, 1995	-	14178 (As on Dec 31, 2021)	-

Kakao got listed on Oct 15, 2010.

Click here to take a look at Kakao's IPO in detail

Kakao has raised funding over 8 rounds. Its first funding round was on Aug 29, 2011. Kakao has 21 institutional investors.

Here is the list of recent funding rounds of Kakao:

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Date of Funding	Funding Amount	Round Name	Post-Money Valuation	Revenue Multiple	Lead Investors	Other Investors
May 20, 2021	7174319	Post IPO	7525144	4345167	1149348	8761677
Jan 15, 2021	2569794	Post IPO	2099632	6791676	1985828	BlackRock
Jan 18, 2018	1429130	Post IPO	6547862	1612985	8476228	9177977

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View details of Kakao's funding rounds and investors

The founders of Kakao is Kim Beom-soo.

Here are the details of Kakao's key team members:

Kim Beom-soo: Co-Founder & Chairman of Kakao and founder of 1 other company.

View details of Kakao's Founder profiles and Board Members

Kakao's employee count trend

Kakao has 3,235 employees as of Jun 26. Here is Kakao's employee count trend over the years:

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Top competitors of Kakao include ByteDance, Bending Spoons and NewBornTown. Here is the list of Top 10 competitors of Kakao, ranked by Tracxn score:

Rank	Company Details	Short Description	Total Funding	Investors	Tracxn Score
1st	ByteDance 2012, Beijing (China), Series E	Developer of platforms for content creation, discovery, and mobile entertainment	$6.11B	HongShan, SoftBank Vision Fund & 64 others	75/100
2nd	Bending Spoons 2013, Milan (Italy), Public	Developer of mobile applications and AI-powered technologies	$840M	Baillie Gifford, Tamburi Investment Partners ... & 34 others	73/100
3rd	Kakao 2010, Jeju-si (South Korea), Public	Online platform offering multi-category messaging and advertising applications	-	Herald Investment Management, GIC & 19 others	72/100
4th	NewBornTown 2009, Beijing (China), Public	Mobile app studio developing personalization apps	$2M	CMBC Capital, Future Capital & 3 others	70/100
5th	OnMobile 2000, Bengaluru (India), Public	Mobile content services in APAC	$46.3M	Argo Global Capital, Deutsche Bank & 6 others	63/100
6th	AIBY Tech 2019, Miami (United States), Unfunded	A company that builds and develops tech businesses specializing in mobile-first products utilizing AI technology	-	-	58/100
7th	Lokal 2018, Bengaluru (India), Series B	Operator of digital platforms providing information and professional service access	$31.8M	3one4 Capital, Global Brain & 22 others	57/100
8th	A1 Apps 2019, Gurugram (India), Unfunded	Provider of a mobile application development company offering apps for various categories	-	-	55/100
9th	Digitalchemy 2010, Redmond (United States), Unfunded	Provider of multi-category mobile applications	-	-	51/100
10th	Rikka Apps 2018, Japan, Unfunded	Provider of multi-category mobile applications	-	-	50/100

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Looking for more details on Kakao's competitors? Click here to see the top ones

Kakao has made 10 investments in companies including Paymons and Nota. Kakao has also acquired 12 companies including Seongnam Football Club and croquis.com.

Here is the list of investments & acquisitions:

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Date of Investment/Acquisition	Type	Company Name	Founded Year	Location
Feb 01, 2024	Investments	Paymons	2020	Seoul (South Korea)
Oct 20, 2023	Investments	Nota	2015	Seoul (South Korea)
Mar 02, 2023	Investments	Global Loyalty Network	2021	Seoul (South Korea)