This undated photo shows Naver Corp.’s headquarters in Seongnam, south of Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean technology giant Naver Corp. made a series of investments in four local startups this month as part of efforts to strengthen its online shopping business.
Early this month, Naver invested 10 billion won (US$8.71 million) in online meat distribution startup Jeongyookgak.
This investment cleared the way for Naver to secure competitiveness in the fresh food delivery area, which has been pointed out as its weakness in the online shopping market.
Several days later, it also invested 20 billion won in commerce platform Brandi.
Together with Brandi, Naver plans to make forays into the Japanese market to launch sales of wholesale and retail products from Dongdaemun market in central Seoul by the end of this year.
On the same day, the company, along with its financial subsidiary Naver Financial, invested 6 billion won in Emmental, a fintech startup that provides sales and tax management services in real time.
Thereafter, together with Japanese investment firm SoftBank Group, Naver Financial invested US$20 million in American blockchain payment start-up TBCASoft Inc. as part of efforts to expand the foreign market for Naver Pay, Naver’s payment service.
Naver’s aggressive investments reflect the strong desire of CEO Han Seong-sook, who took the helm in 2017, to expand the shopping business.
On the back of the CEO’s intensive efforts to cultivate the shopping portal Smart Store, Naver’s shopping business has grown by 20 to 40 percent per quarter, emerging as the nation’s No. 1 e-commerce operator last year with a transaction volume of 28 trillion won.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
