About Kakao Investment
Kakao Investment is a venture capital firm founded in 2015. It is primarily based out of Seoul, South Korea. As of Apr 2026, Kakao Investment is an active investor, having invested in 69 companies, with 2 new investments in the last 12 months. It primarily invests in Seed round in South Korea based startups. Its investments are spread across a wide range of sectors from High Tech to Enterprise Applications and Consumer. Most recently it participated in the $***** Series E round of Brave group Overall, Kakao Investment portfolio has seen 3 unicorns, 5 IPOs and 5 acquisitions including key companies like Triller, Kopi Kenangan and Bolttech. A lot of funds co-invest with Kakao Investment, with names like KB Investment sharing a substantial percentage of its portfolio. Kakao Investment has team of 12 people including 7 partners.Key Metrics
Team Members
Portfolio Count
Portfolio Sectors
Portfolio Locations
Rounds of Entry
Seed, Series C & 3 more
Portfolio Unicorns
Deals in last 12 months
Kakao Investment's List of Top Investments
Kakao Investment has a portfolio of 69 companies, including 3 unicorns. Their most notable investments are in SNAPTAG and Fast Five.Their portfolio spans across South Korea, United States, Japan and 3 more locations. They have invested in High Tech, Enterprise Applications, Consumer and 28 other sectors, across stages such as Seed, Series C and 3 more. Here is the list of top investments by Kakao Investment:
1. Triller
Mobile-based music video creation and social sharing platform. It allows users to create music videos and share them with friends. Users can select a song from the platform and from their devices, and add filters such as slow-motion, speed-up, tempo, and more, to share them with others. It also allows users to share created music videos on multiple social media platforms. The application is available for both Android and iOS devices. It generates revenue through in-app purchases.
Key facts about Triller
- Founded Year: 2015
- Location: Los Angeles (United States)
- Last Known Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Acquired
- Total Funding till date: $400M
- Employee Count: 96 as on Jul 31, 2026
- Investors: Bayrock, StraightPath Venture Partners and 37 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Conventional Debt, Aug 29, 2022, $*****
- Highlight: Acquired
Chain of limited service restaurant serving coffee. It offers a variety of flavors, including avocado & marie regal coffee, salted caramel macchiato, and fruity series. It also provides other items like bread, fried chicken, and cookies.
Key facts about Kopi Kenangan
3. Bolttech
Provider of digital infrastructure for embedding insurance into customer journeys. This platform enables businesses to integrate protection products directly into existing sales processes through application programming interfaces. It facilitates product configuration, underwriting, and policy administration for various sectors including retail, telecommunications, and financial services. The technology supports the lifecycle of insurance programs by connecting insurers with distribution channels to manage quotes, claims, and servicing requirements.
Key facts about Bolttech
- Founded Year: 2020
- Location: Singapore (Singapore)
- Annual Revenue: SGD 1M - 10M as on Dec 31, 2024
- Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Series C
- Total Funding till date: $640M
- Employee Count: 1,103 as on Aug 31, 2026
- Investors: Khazanah Nasional Berhad, Baillie Gifford and 22 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series C, Jun 04, 2025, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
4. Nota
Developer of AI optimization solutions for on-device and edge computing. The company provides tools for AI model compression and optimization across various industries. It offers solutions for applications such as surveillance, industrial safety, and intelligent transportation systems. The company focuses on enabling high-performance AI on diverse devices.
Key facts about Nota
- Founded Year: 2015
- Location: Seoul (South Korea)
- Stage: Public
- Total Funding till date: $63.1M
- Employee Count: 174 as on Aug 31, 2026
- Investors: SBVA, Samsung and 17 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series C, Jun 18, 2024, $*****
- Highlight: Public
Provider of cloud computing services. It specializes in Amazon Web Services cloud and its offerings include architectural consulting, deployment and managed services.
Key facts about Megazone Cloud
- Founded Year: 2018
- Location: Seoul (South Korea)
- Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Series C
- Total Funding till date: $515M
- Employee Count: 939 as on Aug 31, 2026
- Investors: Salesforce Ventures, JKL Partners and 18 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series C, Aug 10, 2022, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
Kakao Investment's Year-on-Year Investment Trends
Kakao Investment has invested in 70 companies over the last 11 years, with an average of 3 new investments annually in the last 10 years. In 2025, it made 2 investments, while as of Apr 2026, it has made 2 investments in this year. Its most recent first time investment was in Brave group and most recent follow-on round was in Bobobox.Year | No. of Investments | ||
|---|---|---|---|
1st Round | Follow-on | Total | |
2026 (YTD) | 2 | 0 | 2 |
2025 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
2024 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
2023 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
2022 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
2021 | 10 | 0 | 10 |
2020 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
2019 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2018 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Kakao Investment's Investments by Stage
Kakao Investment has made 14 investments in Seed stage with an average round size of $5.91M, 9 investments in Series C stage with an average round size of $34.3M, 4 investments in Series A stage with an average round size of $18.8M, 4 investments in Series B stage with an average round size of $52.8M and 1 investment in Series E stage with an average round size of $50.3M.Stage of entry | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Seed | 14 |
Series C | 9 |
Series A | 4 |
Series B | 4 |
Series E | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Kakao Investment's Investments by Sector
Kakao Investment has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the High Tech, Enterprise Applications, Consumer, FinTech and Gaming. Notably, it has invested in 51 Tech companies, 35 Enterprise (B2B) companies, 31 Consumer (B2C) companies and at least 27 companies focusing on Software.Sector | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
High Tech | 12 |
Enterprise Applications | 11 |
Consumer | 5 |
FinTech | 5 |
Gaming | 4 |
Others | 39 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Kakao Investment's Investments by Geography
Kakao Investment has made most investments in South Korea (20), followed by United States where it has made 6 investments.Country | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
South Korea | 20 |
United States | 6 |
Japan | 4 |
Indonesia | 1 |
Singapore | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Kakao Investment's recent investments
Kakao Investment has made 2 investments in 2026 so far - Brave group and RLWRLD.Here are the most recent investments by Kakao Investment:
Filter this listDate | Company | Location | Round Details | Round Amount | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apr 22, 2026 | Japan | Series E | 4649 | [+16] | |
Feb 26, 2026 | South Korea | Seed | 2697 | [+9] | |
Jul 31, 2025 | South Korea | Series C | 6935 | ||
Jun 04, 2025 | Singapore | Series C | 3087 | [+5] | |
Dec 24, 2024 | South Korea | Seed | 3917 | - |
Unicorns in Kakao Investment's Portfolio
Kakao Investment has 3 unicorns in its portfolio - Megazone Cloud, Kopi Kenangan and Bolttech. The most recent unicorn in their portfolio is Megazone Cloud. It became a unicorn in 2022, 1 years after Kakao Investment first invested in it.Here is a list of unicorns in Kakao Investment's portfolio:
Tracxn Score | Company | Short Description | Founded year | Sector | Location | Company Stage | First Investment/ Acquisition Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
64 | Provider of cloud computing services | 2018 | Seoul | Series C | rcvsufj | ||
77 | Chain of limited service restaurant serving coffee | 2017 | Jakarta | Series C | yfdkxxl | ||
77 | Provider of digital infrastructure for embedding insurance into customer journeys | 2020 | Singapore | Series C | pxpokyn |
IPOs and Publicly Listed companies in Kakao Investment's Portfolio
5 of Kakao Investment's portfolio companies have become public. Chaevi got listed on the Korea Exchange (KRX), in Apr 2026 at marketcap of $390M and Nota got listed on the Korea Exchange (KRX) at marketcap of $135M.Here are Kakao Investment's portfolio companies that went public:
Company | IPO Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Apr 29, 2026 | Dec 24, 2024 | Seed | 4931 | |
Nov 03, 2025 | Apr 14, 2022 | Series B | 7362 | |
Nov 14, 2024 | Mar 26, 2021 | Series C | 4711 | |
Oct 29, 2019 | - | - | 3238 | |
May 02, 1997 | - | - | 2819 |
Acquired companies in Kakao Investment's Portfolio
5 companies from Kakao Investment's portfolio have been acquired. The most recent acquisition was Kasa in Apr 2023 by Daishin Securities for $*****.Here are Kakao Investment's portfolio companies that got acquired most recently:
Company | Acquisition Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Apr 15, 2023 | Jul 2018 | Seed | 6463 | |
Jun 01, 2021 | - | - | 8593 | |
May 10, 2021 | - | - | 1155 | |
Dec 23, 2019 | - | - | 2265 | |
Sep 01, 2017 | - | - | 9436 |
Team profile of Kakao Investment
Kakao Investment has a team of 12 members including 7 Partners and 2 Principals located in South Korea. Kakao Investment's team does not sit on the board of any company as of now.Here is a list of top team members in Kakao Investment:
Name | Designation | Location | Board Memberships | Contact Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Partner | South Korea | - | - | |
Partner | - | - | - | |
Partner | - | - | - | |
Partner | South Korea | - | - | |
Partner | - | - | - | |
Partner | - | - | - | |
Partner | - | - | - | |
Principal | - | - | ||
Principal | - | - | - |
Co-investors of Kakao Investment
Over the past 11 years, 288 investors have co-invested in Kakao Investment's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.
- Invested before Kakao Investment: NAVER D2 Startup Factory, Stonebridge Capital and 150 others have invested in rounds before Kakao Investment. There are 4 companies where NAVER D2 Startup Factory has invested before Kakao Investment and 4 companies where Stonebridge Capital has invested before Kakao Investment.
- Top Co-investors of Kakao Investment: 79 investors entered a company along with Kakao Investment. These include investors like KB Investment (3 companies).
- Invested after Kakao Investment: A total of 57 investors have invested in Kakao Investment's portfolio after their investments. Top Investors include Korean Development Bank (3 companies), Samsung (1 company) and LG (1 company).
Recent News related to Kakao Investment
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FuriosaAI Secures 820 Billion Won in Series D Funding, Valued at 3.8 Trillion WonDigitalToday•Oct 29, 2026•Fsc, Infinitum Partners, Furiosa, Cisco Investments and 9 others
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South Korean robotic startup Rlwrld secures $26m fundingTech in Asia•Feb 26, 2026•RLWRLD, Kakao Investment, Headline, Mirae Asset and 9 others
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Shinhan Securities Participates in Bolttech's Series C Investment Round with Kakao InvestmentNewswire•Sep 17, 2025•Shinhan Securities, Bolttech, Kakao Investment
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FuriosaAI Closes $125M Investment Round to Scale Production of Next-Gen AI Inference ChipBusiness Wire•Jul 31, 2025•Furiosa, Keistone Partners, Kakao Investment, Industrial Bank of Korea and 5 others
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Kakao Investment to sell SK square shares for AI investmentsmk.co.kr•Jul 11, 2025•Kakao Investment, SK Square
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Vision AI 'Superb AI' Attracts 13.5 Billion Series C Investment... Pursuing IPO in 2026Wowtale•Sep 26, 2024•http://superbai.com, Doosan Investments, Hyundai Motor Group, Kakao Investment and 1 other
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Invisible Watermark 'SnapTag' Attracts 6 Billion Won in Series B Investment... Cumulative Investment Surpasses 10 Billion WonWowtale•Jul 10, 2024•SNAPTAG, Kiwoom Investment, Kakao Investment, Stonebridge Ventures and 1 other
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Lemontree Raises $1.8M in Pre-Series A for ‘Firfin’ Allowance Management ServiceWowtale•Jul 09, 2024•firfin, Kakao Investment
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Zehitomo Co., Ltd., which develops the "Zhitomo", which develops "Zhitomo", implements a total of 1.1 billion yen in the series C round.Startup Log•Apr 17, 2024•Zehitomo, Darwin Venture, Kakao Investment, DG Daiwa Ventures and 2 others
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Lightweight 3D engine 'Adler', attracted 500 million won from Kakao InbeWowtale•Apr 16, 2024•Adler, Kakao Investment
