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Kakao Mobility acquires UK-based Splyt… Targeting overseas markets

2023-03-22 3 min read

Kakao Mobility acquires UK-based Splyt… Targeting overseas markets

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Kakao Mobility, South Korea’s No. 1 mobility company, announced today that it will acquire Splyt, a UK mobility brokerage platform, to expand into overseas markets. The purchase price is undisclosed. Kakao Mobility plans to accelerate its direct entry into overseas markets through this acquisition, its first overseas acquisition.

Founded in the UK in 2015, Splyt is a unique global intermediary platform that connects global super apps with user demand by providing global API. The company has built a business model that unifies fragmented global mobility services and connects them to make it easier for people to move around the world with the same app they normally use in their home country. Currently, it provides solutions across on-demand services such as ride-hailing, micro-mobility, and public transportation.

Due to its unique business model and technology, Splyt’s customers include most of the major global platforms such as Uber, Grab, Careem, Cabify, Trip.com, and Booking Holdings. Through its extensive partnerships with super apps around the world, the company connects more than 2 billion users in more than 150 countries across Asia, North America, the Middle East and Europe.

In particular, Splyt works with major Chinese super apps such as WeChat, Alipay, and Trip.com, and is expected to directly benefit from the surge in outbound demand from Chinese users after the reopening of the country’s economy following the easing of COVID-19 lockdowns.

Kakao Mobility has declared 2022 as the year of global expansion and has been promoting overseas market expansion based on three pillars: ▲’outbound’ services that allow Korean users to continue using the Kakao T app overseas, ▲’inbound’ services that allow overseas users to enter Korea and use Kakao T services, and ▲’direct entry into overseas markets’ targeting foreigners in overseas countries. In particular, due to the characteristics of mobility services with strong regional colors and difficulties in securing local supply chains, Kakao Mobility has been expanding its overseas expansion base mainly through ‘outbound’ services that can be applied quickly while increasing the convenience of existing Kakao T users.

Through this split acquisition, Kakao Mobility will be able to take its direct overseas expansion strategy to the next level by easily securing local demand and supply networks. Kakao Mobility plans to create best practices for global expansion that can increase the convenience of overseas users in developed markets where global mobility companies are competing, beyond targeting areas lacking in mobility infrastructure such as Guam and Laos. Split will also be included under the umbrella of Kakao Mobility, and as its financial stability is strengthened, it will be able to develop a more scalable business, including attracting new partners.

By joining forces, KakaoMobility will also be able to pursue various types of overseas expansion on a broader scale, including leveraging Splyt’s established taxi industry network in Europe and responding to outbound demand from China.

“Splyt has been working with Kakao Mobility since 2019 to provide Korean users with a ‘seamless’ mobility experience in 32 countries around the world,” said Philippe Minchin, CEO and co-founder of Split. “By combining our global network of super apps with Kakao Mobility’s platform capabilities, we will create new services that will revolutionize the mobility experience for users around the world.”

Ryu Gyeongsun, CEO of Kakao Mobility, said, “We are delighted to welcome Split as our first overseas acquisition, as it has unrivaled global competitiveness in the field of intermediation between mobility platforms. Despite the high level of interest from various global platforms, both parties agreed that Kakao Mobility would be the best partner in terms of technology, vision, and other aspects,” said Ryu. “We are pleased to welcome Split as a partner because of our mutual efforts and platform technology, and we will continue to work closely together to advance our overseas market expansion.” 

[Startup News in Korea]


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