NHN Lee Junho Continues Investing Personal Funds in 'ParkingCloud' and the Reason Behind It

Lee Junho, Chairman of NHN Entertainment

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] NHN Chairman Lee Junho has attracted attention as he reinvested his personal funds into the parking solution 'ParkingCloud iParking,' which has been running at a loss for several years.

According to ParkingCloud on the 23rd, the company secured an investment of 25 billion KRW from Chairman Lee and History Venture Investment, among others. Notably, this is Chairman Lee's first investment in four years since he invested 12 billion KRW in 2017 alongside Korea Investment & Securities and IBK Capital.

Although Chairman Lee is the largest shareholder of ParkingCloud (28.36%), there is no direct equity relationship with NHN. He is continuing the investment in a personal capacity. ParkingCloud explained Chairman Lee's reinvestment as "a demonstration of trust in the steady growth of the iParking business model."

ParkingCloud leads the parking lot industry, but its performance is not very strong. From 2016 to 2019, sales increased significantly from 8.2 billion KRW to 59.2 billion KRW, but operating losses also grew from 5.6 billion KRW to 9.7 billion KRW.

Chairman Lee's continuous investment stems from his belief that the final destination of the mobility business will be the parking lot business. A ParkingCloud official said, "All mobility services such as taxis, shared kickboards, and bicycles inevitably gather at parking lots for charging and repairs," adding, "Also, seeing NHN pushing forward with mobility platform development with iNavi and 42dot shows how important Chairman Lee considers this business."

The growth potential of the parking lot industry is also cited as a major factor driving Chairman Lee's investment. In the contactless era, as the importance of optimizing parking lot operations is highlighted, the parking lot market is estimated to currently be worth about 1.5 trillion KRW.

Based on this investment, ParkingCloud expects to expand its business and improve future performance. In fact, 'ParkingCloud iParking' achieved a milestone of surpassing 1 million daily parked vehicles as of March 15. Achieving 1 million daily users is a first in the mobility industry. Moreover, the daily parking volume of 1 million vehicles exceeds the daily traffic volume of 770,000 vehicles (2019) on the Gyeongbu Expressway, Korea's first expressway, by 230,000 vehicles.

Additionally, iParking secured 610,000 parking spaces, a 53% increase from last year, providing parking lots equivalent to 2.5 times the area of Yeouido to drivers. Since launching the first iParking zone in 2015, the cumulative number of parked vehicles has reached 650 million.

A ParkingCloud official said, "iParking's AI unmanned parking management research and development capabilities and nationwide sales network are highly regarded in the industry," adding, "If this trend continues, realizing a 'Smart Mobility Hub' that creates various added values such as car washing, maintenance, sharing, and charging at parking lots can be accelerated."