Naver ramps up global AI drive with TwelveLabs investment

Naver founder Lee Hae-jin speaks during a Naver Ventures networking event held in Silicon Valley, California, on June 5. [NAVER]

 
Naver is stepping up its push into global artificial intelligence (AI) with the launch of a U.S.-based investment arm and its first investment in TwelveLabs, a video AI startup based in Silicon Valley.  
 
The announcement came as Naver founder and board chairman Lee Hae-jin visited the United States for his first overseas engagement since returning to management in March.
 
 
“AI is not something we can do alone. Naver will invest with everything it has — to survive and move forward,” he said.
 
 
What happened?
 
Naver held a networking event on Thursday at the Four Seasons Hotel in Silicon Valley, announcing video AI startup TwelveLabs as the first investment target of its new venture capital arm, Naver Ventures.  
 
Founded in 2021, TwelveLabs develops multimodal AI capable of understanding and searching video content. The company has gained recognition as one of the top 100 AI companies in the world for four consecutive years by global market intelligence firm CB Insights.
 
At the event, Lee emphasized the importance of connecting and collaborating with capable startups and talented individuals. More than 200 key entrepreneurs, engineers, and investors from the Silicon Valley tech scene attended the event, including John S. Kim, co-founder and CEO of Sendbird; Ahn Ikk-jin, co-founder and CEO of Moloco; Kim Seong-moo, CEO of Datarize and Kim Jin-woo, CEO of Liner.
 

Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon speaks during a Naver Ventures networking event held in Silicon Valley, California, on June 5. [NAVER]

 
What is Naver Ventures?

Naver Ventures is a new investment entity based in Silicon Valley that will scout and support startups across countries and industries. The legal process to establish the firm is expected to conclude later this month, after which Kim Nam-sun, head of Naver’s strategic and venture capital investments division, will lead the venture.
 
The strategic and venture capital investments division was newly formed in a recent organizational reshuffle and is focused on C2C (consumer-to-consumer) commerce — including businesses like Poshmark, which Naver acquired in 2022 — as well as investment in North American startups.
 
 
Why it matters

The event marked Naver founder Lee’s first official overseas appearance since his return to management in March after nearly seven years. It underscores Naver’s strong intent to expand its presence in the North American startup ecosystem.
 
At the event, Lee highlighted two key areas of focus: commerce and sovereign AI — the concept of countries building self-reliant AI capabilities using their own data and infrastructure.
 
“In Korea, we have Smartstore. In Japan, we operate through Line and Yahoo, and we’ve acquired Poshmark in the U.S. and Wallapop in Spain,” he said. “C2C commerce is a key strategic direction.”
 
Lee said AI development would increasingly be segmented by region and use case.
 
“If AI can be broken down by service type into unified and diversified models, Naver aims to be a strong partner on the side of diversity,” he said.
 
Naver recently announced a partnership with Nvidia to build a large language model specialized in the Thai language and is also expanding into the Middle Eastern AI market through its regional hub, Naver Arabia.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY EO HWAN-HEE [[email protected]]