Kakao Mobility partners with Splyt to expand transportation app

Kakao Mobility , a South Korea-based mobility-as-a-service platform (MaaS), is expanding its transportation offering to further Southeast Asia countries, via a partnership with Splyt .

The deal enables users of the Kakao T app to access local taxis, private cars and motorcycles in seven additional countries including Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Splyt has provided the technical integration for the development while Grab is providing the transportation element.

The integration translates departure and destination details into the local language automatically for users calling a vehicle from abroad.

The development also provides users with various payment options including mobile phone micropayments.

“This partnership is a cornerstone in Kakao Mobility’s aim to develop a global mobility platform. Being able to provide a global roaming service allows Korean domestic travelers’ seamless mobility experience to expand into the overseas market," says Dong-Hoon Shin, head of Kakao Mobility MaaS business unit.

“In addition, our advance technologies for realizing mobility services, such as our own map and routing engine, allow us to introduce various mobility services in a global market beyond simple means of transportation.”

Kakao Mobility landed $200 million in funding just over a year ago from the Carlyle Group.

The company said at the time that the investment would accelerate the growth of its smart mobility platform.

Philipp Mintchin, CEO of Splyt, says, “We are proud to expand our partnership with Kakao Mobility across more and more countries, enabling true mobility roaming via the Kakao T superapp.”

Splyt received $19.5 million in funding in 2020 in a round led by SoftBank Corp.