Daum Kakao(다음카카오) Shifts from current Co-CEO structure to single CEO structure to accelerate mobile innovation

Daum Kakao today announced that it nominated Ji Hoon Rim, current CEO of K Cube Ventures as the new CEO of Daum Kakao. In order to swiftly drive change and innovation in the rapidly evolving mobile era, the company decided to shift from a co-CEO structure to a single CEO structure. The strategic decision is expected to help bring out the company’s full potential following its merger last October.

Ji Hoon Rim, CEO nominee of Daum Kakao said, “While truly excited, I also feel heavy responsibility to spearhead the next phase of growth for Daum Kakao, which has been a pioneer in the mobile market,” and continued “I will do my best to accelerate Daum Kakao’s transformation to become not only a prominent mobile company in Korea but also a competitive player in the global market.”

Rim holds an engineering degree from KAIST, and had worked at the corporate strategy office of NHN prior to working as a consultant for the Boston Consulting Group. He then served as the Principal of SoftBank Ventures, before founding and heading K Cube Ventures in 2012. Having achieved outstanding results as a venture capitalist, Rim has proven that he has a discerning eye for uncovering future growth opportunities, with the ability to spot the potential behind people and ideas.

Moreover, Rim is widely known for having a young, yet deeply intuitive insight into the mobile market, evidenced by the fact that he grew K Cube Ventures into one of the most reputable venture capitals in the country within just three years. He invested in more than fifty startups including Fincon, Red Sahara Studio, Frograms, Dunamu and more, and has been recognized for his excellent performance, with the invested startups recording ten-folds increase in corporate value, with some reaching more than KRW 100 billion.

The strategic decision to shift to a single CEO structure was strongly suggested and recommended by the two current co-CEOs of the company, Saehoon Choi and Sirgoo Lee. The co-CEOs have successfully completed the cultural, structural integration of Daum Kakao post merger, and have established a competitive basis for a new mobile life platform.

Choi said “Co-piloting Daum Kakao’s launch and bringing it into the mobile era was a tremendous experience. We recommended Rim because we believed he is an ideal leader for ushering Daum Kakao into a new era of mobile innovation.”

Lee said, “Daum Kakao has been at the forefront of the mobile platform industry, but greater challenges that we can’t yet imagine lie ahead of us. Rim is an exceptional leader that can lead Daum Kakao through this next chapter and help us grow even faster.” Choi and Lee will proactively assist Rim with the transition to the new position.

Rim will officially be named CEO following an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders on September 23rd.