Kakao Ventures
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersSeongnam, South Korea
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
Kakao Ventures firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Kakao Ventures
- Legal name
- (주) 카카오벤처스 (Kakao Ventures Corp.)
- Website
- https://kakao.vc
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Kakao Ventures industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Venture Capital
- NAICS
- Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Miscellaneous Financial Investment Activities (523999)
- SIC
- Investment Advice (6282), Finance Services (6199)
- akta.pro industry
- Emerging Manager / Seeding Platforms (Multi-Manager)Managed Account / SMA Multi-Manager Platforms
Keywords
Where Kakao Ventures is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Seongnam
- HQ country
- South Korea
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices1 record
Markets served
Kakao Ventures business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Fund Management Fees & Carried Interest: Kakao Ventures manages 11+ funds (with the latest being the Kakao Co-pilot No. 2 Fund established in May 2023) with total assets under management exceeding 4,300 billion won. As a venture capital firm, revenue is generated through traditional VC economics: recurring management fees on committed capital under management and carried interest on profitable exits. In 2025 the firm reported 130 billion won (1,300억) in distributions/recoveries to LPs.
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels8 records
Kakao Ventures product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Kakao Ventures is a Korea-based seed-to-Pre-Series A venture capital firm that manages 11+ funds with over 4,300 억 원 (approximately 430 billion KRW) in assets under management. The firm invests in ICT and software startups across four dedicated verticals—Deep Tech, Service, Digital Healthcare, and Game—and complements its capital with value-up services including KV Shared Services, the KV Mafia founder network, and the Value-up Partners (VAP) advisory program.
Product overview
Kakao Ventures (카카오벤처스) operates a platform-plus-modules service architecture centered on venture capital investment. The core offering is its Investment Funds product — 11+ funds with 410 billion KRW (4,300+ 억원) under management — focused on seed to pre-Series A investments in ICT/software startups across deep tech, service, digital healthcare, and gaming sectors. This core is complemented by KV Mafia, a network of 200+ portfolio companies facilitating founder-to-founder support; KV Shared Services, which provides back-office finance, tax, legal, and communications support to early-stage portfolio companies; and Value-Up Partners (VAP), a network of external industry experts offering specialized advisory. The firm also maintains the KV Insight Book (annual industry publication), the KV Insight Full Day event series, the Kakao Ventures Blog content platform, and the KV Partners LP Communication Platform (in beta). Since 2012, Kakao Ventures has invested in 290+ companies including Dunamu, Rebellion, Karrot, and Korea Credit Data.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- KV Partners: LP communication platform launched by Kakao Ventures in beta in June 2026, with full launch scheduled for Q3 2026.
Products and services
- Investment Funds (Seed to Series A)
- KV Mafia Network
- KV Shared Services
- Value-Up Partners (VAP)
- KV Partners (LP Communication Platform)
- Kakao Ventures Blog (Insights)
Quantifiable outcome
- 182x multiple on Carrot as first institutional investor
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Kakao Ventures
Customer profileSegments6 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Kakao Ventures technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Kakao Ventures partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators9 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Kakao Ventures competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Future Play: Korean deep-tech seed VC co-investing alongside Kakao Ventures in robotics (Contoro) and broader Korean early-stage rounds. Strongly overlapping focus on lab-to-market tech translation.
- BASS Ventures: Korean seed-stage VC co-leading rounds with Kakao Ventures (Cutback $2.6M, Tect Group). Comparable stage and Korea-focused consumer/AI investment thesis.
- Atinum Investment: Korean early-to-growth stage VC investing across similar consumer/AI/fintech themes. Co-invested alongside Kakao Ventures in Link Alpha, sharing comparable ticket sizes and Korean seed/pre-Series A posture.
- KB Investment: One of Korea's largest CVC/VC arms actively co-investing with Kakao Ventures at seed and follow-on stages (e.g., Apollo Studio co-lead, Contoro Series A). Operates a similar early-stage Korean tech thesis across multiple verticals.
- Mirae Asset Venture Investment: Korean institutional VC with comparable seed/Series A activity (recent Tynapse co-investment). Similar broad-vertical early-stage mandate and LP-driven fund model.
- Smilegate Investment: Korean corporate-affiliated VC co-investing with Kakao Ventures (e.g., Link Alpha). Overlapping thesis on games, AI, and consumer services in the Korean early-stage market.
- Mashup Ventures: Korean seed-stage VC with similar consumer/services focus. Co-invested with Kakao Ventures in Taming Lab; comparable ticket sizes and pre-Series A focus on Korean founders.
- BonAngels Venture Partners: Korean seed/early VC with consumer/services focus. Co-invested with Kakao Ventures in Waddle; operates a similar check size and Korean seed thesis.
- Primer (formerly SparkLabs Korea): Korean accelerator-turned-VC running a structured seed program for Korean and global founders. Comparable stage focus, founder-friendly thesis, and community-driven portfolio support.
Broad incumbents
- Y Combinator: Global seed-stage accelerator and the benchmark for 'founder-friendly' institutional seed capital. While Korea-anchored, Kakao Ventures positions itself as Korea's equivalent at the seed stage with comparable community/value-add programs.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Kakao Ventures social profiles
Digital presenceKakao Ventures financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Kakao Ventures leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles16 records
Kakao Ventures funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Kakao Ventures M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments390 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Kakao Ventures
What does Kakao Ventures do?
Kakao Ventures is a Korea-based seed-to-Pre-Series A venture capital firm that manages 11+ funds with over 4,300 억 원 (approximately 430 billion KRW) in assets under management. The firm invests in ICT and software startups across four dedicated verticals—Deep Tech, Service, Digital Healthcare, and Game—and complements its capital with value-up services including KV Shared Services, the KV Mafia founder network, and the Value-up Partners (VAP) advisory program.
Is Kakao Ventures a public or private company?
Kakao Ventures is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Kakao Ventures founded?
Kakao Ventures was founded in 2012. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Kakao Ventures based?
Kakao Ventures is headquartered in Seongnam, South Korea, in the Asia region.
How does Kakao Ventures make money?
One revenue line is on record: fund Management Fees & Carried Interest.
Who are Kakao Ventures's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Future Play, BASS Ventures, Atinum Investment, KB Investment, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Smilegate Investment, Mashup Ventures, BonAngels Venture Partners and Primer (formerly SparkLabs Korea). Y Combinator is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Kakao Ventures have an API?
No public API is recorded for Kakao Ventures.
What industry is Kakao Ventures in?
Kakao Ventures's product category is Venture Capital. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSANAGAF, Emerging Manager / Seeding Platforms (Multi-Manager), with a secondary code of FSANAGAL, Managed Account / SMA Multi-Manager Platforms. Its NAICS code is 523940 and its SIC code is 6282.