April 20, 2024

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Kakao Mobility, the mobility unit of South Korea’s mobile giant Kakao, and Grab, Southeast Asia’s leading ride-hailing app, are mulling a partnership in Vietnam, the companies confirmed on Oct. 2.

They are currently talking about a cooperation via Splyt Technologies, a London-based startup Grab has invested in June. Splyt is a global mobility market place that provides convenient access to ride-hailing services to international users.

The cooperation mainly aims to serve South Koreans visiting Vietnam, a popular destination for South Koreans. 

“We’re discussing with Grab and Splyt to launch a service in Vietnam,” a Kakao Mobility spokesperson told The Investor. “When visiting Vietnam, South Koreans could use Grab’s mobility services such as taxi, motorbikes, or carpooling via Kakao T but we are not sure which services will be available first.”

Vietnam might be the first destination that users of Kakao T, Kakao Mobility‘s app, as Grab’s operation reaches eight Southeast Asian countries including Thailand and Indonesia.

But Grab’s service in South Korea is not part of the discussion, both Grab and Kakao Mobility said.

If successful, Kakao’s Vietnam presence would mark its second overseas expandsion after it signed a partnership with Japan Taxi last year to enable call taxi services for Korean users.

Launched in 2012 as a ride-hailing app, Grab has become an “everyday app” that also provides food delivery and financial services.

Kakao T, a leading mobility platform in South Korea, processes 1.5 million calls everyday on average for its call taxi service.



By Park Ga-young (gypark@heraldcorp.com)