South Korean Internet giant Kakao announced on Wednesday that it has appointed Chung Shin-a, the head of its corporate venture capital arm Kakao Ventures, as the group's new CEO, taking over the position of current CEO Hong Eun-taek and becoming the first female CEO in the company's history. Kakao said Chung Shin-a's appointment still needs to be approved by the board of directors and passed at the shareholders' meeting in March next year.
Chung Shin-a, 48, who has worked at Boston Consulting Group, eBay and Naver, joined Kakao's venture capital department in 2014 and began leading the department in 2018. Under her leadership, Kakao has invested in a large number of startups in areas such as artificial intelligence, robotics, mobile platform business, gaming and digital health. Earlier this year, she joined Kakao’s board of directors.
Kakao said ChungShin-a's expertise and experience in the IT industry will lead the company's new transformation.