Kakao Ventures

Kakao Ventures, established in 2012, is a South Korean venture capital firm headquartered in Seongnam-si. As an independent subsidiary of Kakao Corp., it manages external funds from limited partners. The firm specializes in seed and early-stage investments, focusing on tech-enabled startups in advanced technology, deep tech, mobile, service, and gaming sectors. Known for its founder-friendly approach, it is one of the most active seed venture capital firms in Korea.

Anne Ahn

Senior Associate

Eddie Chang

Executive Director

Kim Chi-won

Executive Director, Managing Director and Partner

Mike Cho

Senior Associate

Andy Choi

Associate

Jade Chung

Senior Associate

Shin-ah Chung

CEO and Partner

Aiden Jang

Principal Associate

Brian Jang

Executive Director

Jade Jung

Senior Associate

Kim Ki-Jun

CEO and Partner

Jacob Kim

Principal Associate

Jun Kim

CEO / Partner

Zero Kim

Associate

Inbae Lee

Principal

Justin Shin

Senior Associate

Ryan Won

Managing Director

Past deals in Entertainment

23rd Century Children

Seed Round in 2024
23rd Century Children is a Virtual entertainment startup. 23rd Century Kids is developing virtual artists for fans to interact with in various environments, using real-time motion capture rendering and toon shading for a cartoon-like feel.

GPUN

Seed Round in 2024
GPUN is a technology company that operates a game development platform. This platform empowers individuals to create and publish their own games, with a focus on mobile gaming. GPUN's flagship game, a subculture mechanic shooting game, immerses players in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity must fight to reclaim Earth from alien invaders, providing engaging and fun gaming experiences.

KinoLights

Series A in 2024
KinoLights is a provider of movie rating and recommendation services that aims to enhance viewers' content discovery experience. The company has developed an integrated application designed for over-the-top (OTT) platforms, which leverages a traffic light evaluation system for personalized recommendations. This innovative platform helps users determine what to watch by offering tailored suggestions based on their preferences and reviews. Additionally, KinoLights informs viewers about which OTT service is showcasing the searched media, including movies, dramas, animations, and television programs. By streamlining the search process, KinoLights enables users to efficiently find content that aligns with their interests, saving them time and improving their viewing experience.

Dremo

Funding Round in 2023
Dremo's challenge is to extend the value of gaming to millions of people throughout the world by creating games that are enjoyable for family and friends. It eagerly await your participation in the challenge!

Superplastic

Series A in 2023
Superplastic, Inc. is a character-based product and entertainment company based in Burlington, Vermont, founded in 2017. It specializes in the creation and marketing of limited edition art toys, apparel, games, and animations that feature unique characters developed in collaboration with renowned artists. Superplastic emphasizes the intrinsic value of effort and scarcity in its offerings, utilizing mass media and production techniques to deliver exclusive works of art to a select audience. The company's innovative platform also showcases synthetic superstars through various media formats, including animated videos, music, fashion, and gaming, allowing customers to engage with their favorite characters in novel ways.

Nautilus

Seed Round in 2022
Nautilus is an online platform with webtoons for enriched culture and knowledge.

KinoLights

Seed Round in 2022
KinoLights is a provider of movie rating and recommendation services that aims to enhance viewers' content discovery experience. The company has developed an integrated application designed for over-the-top (OTT) platforms, which leverages a traffic light evaluation system for personalized recommendations. This innovative platform helps users determine what to watch by offering tailored suggestions based on their preferences and reviews. Additionally, KinoLights informs viewers about which OTT service is showcasing the searched media, including movies, dramas, animations, and television programs. By streamlining the search process, KinoLights enables users to efficiently find content that aligns with their interests, saving them time and improving their viewing experience.

39 degrees C

Seed Round in 2021
39 degrees C is a media application development company that specializes in innovative video streaming solutions. Its flagship product, LILAY, is a multi-camera live streaming app that enables users to share camera screens between smartphones, facilitating real-time video shooting and transmission without the need for additional equipment. This app utilizes a unique technology known as WiFi-Direct, which has garnered numerous domestic and international patent licenses. In addition to LILAY, the company offers feedeo, a video-making application that provides users with a variety of stylish templates for content creation. Together, these applications empower users to host live streams and create engaging online stories for social media, making high-quality broadcasting accessible without the need for expensive recording setups.

KinoLights

Seed Round in 2021
KinoLights is a provider of movie rating and recommendation services that aims to enhance viewers' content discovery experience. The company has developed an integrated application designed for over-the-top (OTT) platforms, which leverages a traffic light evaluation system for personalized recommendations. This innovative platform helps users determine what to watch by offering tailored suggestions based on their preferences and reviews. Additionally, KinoLights informs viewers about which OTT service is showcasing the searched media, including movies, dramas, animations, and television programs. By streamlining the search process, KinoLights enables users to efficiently find content that aligns with their interests, saving them time and improving their viewing experience.

Watcha

Venture Round in 2020
WATCHA, Inc. is a South Korean company founded in 2011 and headquartered in Seoul, specializing in online interactive media services. It initially gained popularity as a movie review application, becoming a favorite in Korea for its personalized recommendation technology. Users rate movies, allowing WATCHA to predict their preferences for unseen films. In addition to its review platform, WATCHA launched a subscription video-on-demand service called WATCHA PLAY in 2016, which offers a wide selection of movies and TV series accessible across various devices, including web browsers, mobile platforms, and smart TVs. The service is noted for its highly accurate content recommendations, with a significant portion of consumed content driven by these suggestions. WATCHA has also expanded its presence internationally, having launched in Japan in 2015.

Dillyhub

Seed Round in 2020
Dillyhub Inc. is a company that develops and operates a digital platform aimed at promoting the work of independent comic artists. Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Namyangju-si, South Korea, with an additional office in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Dillyhub provides a publishing and monetization platform specifically designed for comic creators. The platform employs proprietary technology to connect creators with fans, enhancing the discoverability of their works. By offering innovative tools for monetization, Dillyhub enables artists to effectively showcase and profit from their digital content, thereby fostering a supportive environment for independent comic creators.

Livehive

Seed Round in 2020
Livehive is a social media and entertainment application.

Nyou

Series B in 2019
Nyou is a game development company focused on creating and publishing recreational games. The company operates a studio that specializes in developing immersive gaming experiences, including a massively multiplayer online role-playing game set in a dynamic medieval world. This game evolves based on players' in-game decisions, providing users with engaging content that enhances their gameplay experience. Nyou aims to captivate players by delivering innovative and entertaining games that cater to the recreational gaming market.

Laftel

Venture Round in 2018
Laftel Inc. is a South Korean company founded in 2014 that operates a digital platform for comics and animation streaming. The company develops a mobile application and web service designed to collect and analyze user preferences in comics and anime, providing tailored recommendations to enhance user experience. Laftel's platform features a diverse array of animated content across various genres, including action, adventure, music, and sports, allowing users to stream and download a wide selection of animated videos and movies. By integrating user insights, Laftel aims to create an engaging and entertaining environment for its audience.

Nyou

Series A in 2018
Nyou is a game development company focused on creating and publishing recreational games. The company operates a studio that specializes in developing immersive gaming experiences, including a massively multiplayer online role-playing game set in a dynamic medieval world. This game evolves based on players' in-game decisions, providing users with engaging content that enhances their gameplay experience. Nyou aims to captivate players by delivering innovative and entertaining games that cater to the recreational gaming market.

ForceTeller

Series A in 2018
ForceTeller is a mobile application that specializes in online entertainment services, focusing on astrology and fortune-telling. The platform provides users with a modern, mobile-based experience, offering various traditional methods such as daily and monthly horoscopes, as well as Tarot readings. By utilizing leading characters featured in the app, ForceTeller enables users to gain insights into their luck and fate, helping them achieve emotional balance and psychological stability.

ForceTeller

Seed Round in 2017
ForceTeller is a mobile application that specializes in online entertainment services, focusing on astrology and fortune-telling. The platform provides users with a modern, mobile-based experience, offering various traditional methods such as daily and monthly horoscopes, as well as Tarot readings. By utilizing leading characters featured in the app, ForceTeller enables users to gain insights into their luck and fate, helping them achieve emotional balance and psychological stability.

Playsnak

Seed Round in 2016
Playsnak GmbH, established in 2015, is a global gaming company headquartered in Berlin, Germany, with operations in Los Angeles, California. It specializes in publishing mobile games, including self-developed first-party titles and those from international mobile game developers. Additionally, Playsnak produces and publishes virtual reality and puzzle games, aiming to build a next-generation gaming company that caters to the evolving global gaming market, particularly the shift towards immersive VR and AR experiences.

KoKomo Games

Series B in 2016
KoKomo Games is a South Korean company founded in 2014, specializing in the design and development of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). Based in Seoul, the company is composed of a team with extensive experience in the gaming industry, having previously developed and launched successful titles such as Lineage2 and Blade&Soul. Unlike the current trend towards trading card and midcore RPG games, KoKomo Games aims to focus on the hardcore RPG genre, which they view as an untapped market. The company is committed to creating a flagship mobile MMORPG that appeals to gamers in Asia, leveraging the shared characteristics and interests of these audiences with those in Korea. KoKomo Games seeks to enhance the overall gaming experience by providing interactive, real-time multiplayer games that are rich in narrative and strategic elements.

Still8

Series B in 2016
In the early days of E-Sports, unrivaled skills and overflowing enthusiasm towards games were the only two requisites to become a professional gamer. Nowadays with the rise of global E-Sports fandoms, performance became only one of many requisites of a pro-gamer. Fans are connected to pro-gamers everywhere through various channels such as SNS and live & video platforms. In order to satisfy their needs and be loved by them, a professional gamer needs more than just playing games. E-Sportainment is the compound word of E-Sports and Entertainment. It’s the most explicit and mission-oriented word to describe what STILL8 does. Combining entertainment factors with E-Sports, we help current pro-gamers to boost their talents and retired pro-gamers to sustain their career. Playing games is one part, amusing fans with various entertainments is another. As so, STILL8 ultimately pursues the E-Sports of the gamer, by the gamer, and for the gamer.

momo

Seed Round in 2016
Momo is a South Korean company founded in 2015, primarily focused on developing movie and web-based drama content for mobile platforms. Based in Seoul, Momo specializes in creating engaging media and entertainment experiences, particularly through its innovative offerings in web drama and video content. The company aims to leverage the growing demand for mobile entertainment by providing high-quality, accessible content tailored for mobile phones.

Still8

Series A in 2015
In the early days of E-Sports, unrivaled skills and overflowing enthusiasm towards games were the only two requisites to become a professional gamer. Nowadays with the rise of global E-Sports fandoms, performance became only one of many requisites of a pro-gamer. Fans are connected to pro-gamers everywhere through various channels such as SNS and live & video platforms. In order to satisfy their needs and be loved by them, a professional gamer needs more than just playing games. E-Sportainment is the compound word of E-Sports and Entertainment. It’s the most explicit and mission-oriented word to describe what STILL8 does. Combining entertainment factors with E-Sports, we help current pro-gamers to boost their talents and retired pro-gamers to sustain their career. Playing games is one part, amusing fans with various entertainments is another. As so, STILL8 ultimately pursues the E-Sports of the gamer, by the gamer, and for the gamer.

KoKomo Games

Series A in 2015
KoKomo Games is a South Korean company founded in 2014, specializing in the design and development of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). Based in Seoul, the company is composed of a team with extensive experience in the gaming industry, having previously developed and launched successful titles such as Lineage2 and Blade&Soul. Unlike the current trend towards trading card and midcore RPG games, KoKomo Games aims to focus on the hardcore RPG genre, which they view as an untapped market. The company is committed to creating a flagship mobile MMORPG that appeals to gamers in Asia, leveraging the shared characteristics and interests of these audiences with those in Korea. KoKomo Games seeks to enhance the overall gaming experience by providing interactive, real-time multiplayer games that are rich in narrative and strategic elements.

Red Sahara Studio

Seed Round in 2014
Red Sahara Studio is a mobile game development company based in Seongnam-si, South Korea. It focuses on creating a diverse range of engaging games aimed at providing enjoyment to players. The studio specializes in both single and multiplayer battle games, offering features such as auto and manual modes, along with character customization options. This design approach allows players to fully immerse themselves in virtual combat experiences. As a subsidiary of Krafton Inc., Red Sahara Studio is positioned within a dynamic gaming market, contributing to the evolution of mobile entertainment.

O'ol Blue

Angel Round in 2013
O'ol Blue Inc. is a South Korean developer of mobile games, established in 2012. The company focuses on creating engaging gaming experiences, with notable products such as HunterHunter and Mighty Quest. O'ol Blue's games are designed to be compatible with various platforms, including iOS, Naver, and U+ devices, allowing users to compete with players worldwide. The organization aims to enhance the overall gaming experience by providing innovative and enjoyable gameplay.

Watcha

Angel Round in 2012
WATCHA, Inc. is a South Korean company founded in 2011 and headquartered in Seoul, specializing in online interactive media services. It initially gained popularity as a movie review application, becoming a favorite in Korea for its personalized recommendation technology. Users rate movies, allowing WATCHA to predict their preferences for unseen films. In addition to its review platform, WATCHA launched a subscription video-on-demand service called WATCHA PLAY in 2016, which offers a wide selection of movies and TV series accessible across various devices, including web browsers, mobile platforms, and smart TVs. The service is noted for its highly accurate content recommendations, with a significant portion of consumed content driven by these suggestions. WATCHA has also expanded its presence internationally, having launched in Japan in 2015.
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