Daum
Daum is South Korea's second-largest internet portal, operated by AXZ Corp. and recently acquired by AI startup Upstage. It serves Korean consumers with free search, email, community forums, news, and blogging, and is integrating Upstage's Solar LLM into a new AI Overview search feature.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1999
- HeadquartersSeongnam, South Korea
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Daum does
Daum is South Korea's second-largest internet portal, founded in 1999 and operated by AXZ Corp. from its headquarters in Pangyo (Seongnam), South Korea. The portal serves the Korean-speaking consumer market with a horizontal suite of free services including Daum Search, Daum Mail (Hanmail), Daum Cafe (community forums), news aggregation, the Tistory blogging platform, and the 1boon content platform. All services are distributed via the daum.net web portal and mobile apps on iOS and Android through a self-serve, direct-access model with no sales intervention.
The business is consumer-facing and free to end users; monetization is implied through advertising (Daum ads, first-screen placements), though specific ad pricing is not publicly disclosed. Daum's primary technical asset is its accumulated 27-36 years of Korean-language search queries, email, and community content, which the company positions as a data moat against global competitors. As of May 2026, Daum operates as a subsidiary of Upstage, a South Korean AI startup, after being spun off from Kakao in December 2025 and acquired in a stock-exchange transaction. Under Upstage ownership, Daum is being integrated with Upstage's Solar LLM to power an 'AI Overview' conversational search feature planned for July 2026.
Daum generates sales in the approximately 300 billion Korean won range per year, making it a meaningful scale contributor to Upstage's pre-IPO portfolio. The portal's strategic role has shifted from a standalone consumer property under Kakao to a B2C distribution and data substrate for an AI-native parent preparing for a public listing.
Daum firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Daum
- Legal name
- 주식회사 에이엑스지 (AXZ Corp.)
- Website
- https://daum.net
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1999
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Daum is South Korea's second-largest internet portal, operated by AXZ Corp. and recently acquired by AI startup Upstage. It serves Korean consumers with free search, email, community forums, news, and blogging, and is integrating Upstage's Solar LLM into a new AI Overview search feature.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Daum industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Web Portal Services
- NAICS
- Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182), Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (5192)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Enterprise Search, Indexing & Content Discovery (HDAEAGAH)
Keywords
Where Daum is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Seongnam
- HQ country
- South Korea
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices1 record
Markets served
Daum business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels1 record
Daum product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Daum operates a Korean-language web portal providing internet search, email services (Daum Mail/Hanmail), community forums (Daum Cafe), news aggregation, and content channels to Korean-speaking internet users. The portal is now owned by AI startup Upstage and is being enhanced with an 'AI Overview' conversational search feature powered by Upstage's Solar LLM, transitioning from keyword-based to AI-driven natural language search.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Daum Mail (다음메일): Email service portal operated by Daum
- Daum Café
- Daum Search
- 1boon
- Tistory
Products and services
- Daum Search
- Daum Mail (Hanmail)
- Daum Cafe
- Tistory
- 1boon
- AI Overview
Companies that use Daum
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Daum technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability4 records
Daum partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- UpstagecoreUpstage, a South Korean AI startup, acquired Daum from Kakao in May 2025 and plans to integrate Daum's user database (Cafe, Mail) with Upstage's generative AI technology, specifically using Upstage's LLM 'Solar' to power Daum's new 'AI Overview' conversational search feature launching in July 2026.
- KakaocoreKakao sold its portal service Daum to AI startup Upstage through a stock exchange transaction, receiving Upstage shares instead of cash. The 12-year relationship between Kakao and Daum ended with this deal. Prior to the sale, Daum was spun off to operate as an independent entity under AXZ (a Kakao subsidiary) in December 2025, with AXZ becoming its legal provider. Daum generates approximately 300 billion Korean won in annual sales.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Daum competitors and assessment
Company assessmentMarket position
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Daum social profiles
Digital presenceDaum financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Daum leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Daum funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Daum M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Daum
What does Daum do?
Daum operates a Korean-language web portal providing internet search, email services (Daum Mail/Hanmail), community forums (Daum Cafe), news aggregation, and content channels to Korean-speaking internet users. The portal is now owned by AI startup Upstage and is being enhanced with an 'AI Overview' conversational search feature powered by Upstage's Solar LLM, transitioning from keyword-based to AI-driven natural language search.
Is Daum a public or private company?
Daum is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Daum founded?
Daum was founded in 1999. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Daum based?
Daum is headquartered in Seongnam, South Korea, in the Asia region.
Does Daum have an API?
No public API is recorded for Daum.
What industry is Daum in?
Daum's product category is Web Portal Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAEAGAH, Enterprise Search, Indexing & Content Discovery. Its NAICS code is 5182.