NAVER Ventures into Silicon Valley to Build Global AI Investment Ecosystem

NAVER is establishing ‘NAVER Ventures’ in Silicon Valley as a strategic foothold for global investment targeting the AI era. The establishment of this investment corporation is analyzed as a strategic move to secure next-generation AI technologies including generative AI and video AI.

NAVER announced on June 8 that it held the ‘Venturing NAVER’s Next Chapter’ networking event in Silicon Valley on June 5 local time. Chairman Lee Hae-jin, NAVER CEO Choi Soo-yeon, and Kim Nam-sun, head of strategic investment division, attended the event to explore collaboration opportunities with key figures in Silicon Valley’s AI startup ecosystem.

The event was attended by approximately 200 people, including Korean-American AI and tech company founders based in Silicon Valley such as Kim Dong-shin, CEO of Sendbird, Ahn Ik-jin, CEO of Moloco, Kim Sung-moo, CEO of Datarize, and Kim Jin-woo, CEO of Liner, along with local investors and engineers.

NAVER CEO Choi Soo-yeon stated, “NAVER continues to invest where talent and technology exist, and Silicon Valley is the cradle of technology and innovation where capable talent and new technologies converge.” She added, “In a situation where startups are having difficulty attracting investment due to international uncertainty, NAVER will play a role in North America as well as Korea so that they can receive stable investment and operate technology development and business.”

Chairman Lee Hae-jin emphasized the importance of diversity in the AI era. He said, “Diversity is important even in the AI era, and for this, cooperation with not only NAVER but also more diverse partners is important,” adding, “NAVER will find and invest in capable startups and talent, support them, and connect them with NAVER’s experience to grow together and create an AI era where diversity coexists.”

NAVER Ventures’ first investment target is TwelveLabs, a video AI specialist startup. According to the original announcement, TwelveLabs is described as a globally recognized video AI startup that received NAVER’s first investment.

NAVER Ventures, which will be led by Kim Nam-sun, head of strategic investment division, will complete its establishment this month. The plan is to establish an investment base in Silicon Valley and discover startups in cutting-edge technology fields such as AI, machine learning, and robotics.

NAVER’s expansion into Silicon Valley is interpreted as a strategic choice to stay competitive in the global AI race. The intention is to conduct direct investment activities in Silicon Valley, where major AI companies such as Google, Meta, and OpenAI are concentrated, to grasp the latest AI technology trends in real-time and preempt promising technologies.

In particular, as multimodal AI that integrates video, voice, and image processing beyond simple text generation is emerging as next-generation technology in the AI field, NAVER’s video AI investment is evaluated as a timely decision.