Looking at 100 Companies Funded by Naver... Focused on 'AI and Commerce'

Startup Incubator Naver D2SF
Invested in 100 Companies Over 7 Years...Corporate Value 3.4 Trillion KRW
Multiple Investments This Year in Companies Synergizing with Poshmark
Naver's Future Growth Engine is AI...More Than Half of Investments in AI Sector

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Naver’s startup nurturing organization D2SF has invested in its 100th startup seven years after its launch. Looking at the fingertips of D2SF, which has led the synergy between Naver’s services and startup technologies, one can see Naver’s future growth engines.

Invested in 100 Companies in 7 Years Since Launch

According to Naver on the 23rd, D2SF invested a total of 26 cases and 16.7 billion KRW in startups this year, including 17 new investments and 9 follow-up investments. Despite the difficult economic situation, the investment scale continued similarly to last year’s (31 cases, 17.7 billion KRW). D2SF was launched in 2015 with the goal of investing in early-stage technology startups and supporting their growth to pursue synergy between technology startups and Naver. Marking its 7th year since launch this year, D2SF led its 100th investment by investing in the sleep tech startup PranaQ.

As of August this year, the corporate value of the 99 companies D2SF has invested in reached approximately 3.4 trillion KRW. This is about twice the corporate value of 1.7 trillion KRW estimated last year.

List of Startups Newly Invested by Naver D2SF in 2022.

Looking at D2SF Investments, You Can See Naver’s Future

This year, D2SF’s major investments were made in startups possessing commerce technology. For example, ‘GEmotion’ owns 3D fashion simulation engine technology covering everything from clothing design to virtual fitting. ‘OnTheLook’ is a fashion content platform startup optimized for each user’s individual preferences. This aligns with Naver’s recent accelerated acquisition of Poshmark, North America’s largest fashion C2C (consumer-to-consumer) company. Naver’s top priority currently is to improve Poshmark’s profitability, which has turned to quarterly losses, and to shift it to profitability. The technologies of startups invested in by D2SF this year are expected to create high synergy if applied to Poshmark.

Additionally, investments were made in blockchain technology-related startups, including platforms that evaluate and manage non-fungible token (NFT) assets and those developing ‘fan participation entertainment platforms’ using blockchain technology. Through this, the possibility of Naver unveiling services utilizing blockchain technology in the future has increased.

Ultimately, Naver’s Future Growth Engine is AI

Looking closely at the 100 startups invested in over the past seven years, more than half possess their own AI technology. In particular, the AI technologies they hold aim to penetrate daily life and provide convenience to users. Naver’s super-large AI ‘HyperCLOVA’ is applied throughout services, accelerating normalization. Examples include the AI contact center solution ‘CLOVA CareCall’ for elderly living alone and single-person households, and the voice recording AI ‘CLOVA Note.’

Naver plans to continuously strive to enhance competitiveness together with startups. This year, Naver opened ‘D2SF @Bundang,’ a dedicated space for technology startups with 140 seats at its new headquarters 1784. Naver plans to continue various synergy programs so that startups can stimulate each other and diversify points of contact.