Kakao Mobility looks to international expansion with acquisition of Splyt

Kakao Mobility has acquired United Kingdom-based Splyt , a mobility technology specialist, for an undisclosed sum.

Splyt provides application programming interfaces to help travel platforms and super apps easily integrate mobility services.

The two companies announced a partnership last year enabling the South Korea-based company to expand the transportation options in its Kakao T app.

Splyt, which was founded in 2015, provides its mobility services to platforms including Careem, Cabify, Grab and Booking Holdings.

Last year it struck a deal to enable rides through cryptocurrency platform Binance and the self-styled “super app enabler” also offers experiences via a deal with Viator.

Kakao Mobility says it stands to gain from China outbound business via Splyt as the company’s partners include WeChat, Alipay and Trip.com.

The South Korean company’s global expansion strategy includes outbound services for Koreans and inbound visitors to Korea.

Kakao Mobility received a $200 million investment in 2021 saying it wanted to expand into new business areas including autonomous driving technology.

Splyt announced funding of $19.5 million in 2020 led by Softbank.