Lee Jong-ho, CEO of T Map Mobility, speaks during a press conference at T Tower in Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of T Map Mobility

By Baek Byung-yeul

T Map Mobility attracted a massive investment worth 200 billion won ($149.6 million) from KB Kookmin Bank as part of the two sides' strategy to create synergy by combining the mobility and finance businesses, the company said, Monday.

T Map Mobility is an operator of the country's popular navigation app, T Map. After spinning off from SK Telecom in December 2020, the company has sought to cover a wider range of businesses, such as ride hailing, logistics transportation and urban air mobility in the future.

Under the agreement, KB Kookmin Bank acquired an 8.3-percent stake in T Map Mobility to become the fourth-largest shareholder.

T Map Mobility said that the investment from the bank is the first large-scale investment by a large financial company in a domestic mobility platform company.

"We are the No. 1 mobility platform company in Korea with an enormous amount of data accumulated over 20 years. Now we are evolving into an all-in-one mobility platform that services kickboard, ride hailing and parking services," Lee Jong-ho, the CEO of T Map Mobility, said during a press conference at T Tower in Seoul.

"We are not only considering the existing business, but also future investments and urban air mobility. We've talked a lot with KB about the plan to create a world where customers cannot live without our platform when they come out of their homes. I think the investment from KB was made in recognition of these points," the CEO added.

Lee Jong-ho, left, the CEO of T Map Mobility, poses with Lee Jae-keun, the CEO of KB Kookmin Bank, after signing an investment agreement at T Tower in Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of T Map Mobility

The company said it plans to invest the resources it secured from KB Kookmin Bank to strengthen its business capabilities and expand the related ecosystem, such as by hiring high-quality software developers and upgrading its existing T Map services.

It will also strengthen cooperation with KB Financial Group to launch mobility insurance, as well as used car and payment services later.