NAVER said on the 5th that it invested 2 billion yen (about 18.7 billion won) in the Japanese content platform "note," forming a strategic partnership. With this investment, NAVER secured about 7.9% equity in note and will become the second-largest shareholder.
Note is a Japanese original content platform where anyone can express and share their ideas or experiences as content such as text, images, and videos. Since 2014, a cumulative 64 million pieces of content have been accumulated, and the number of registered users has reached 10.52 million, the company said.
The two companies will combine note's content ecosystem with NAVER's service expertise and technological capabilities to collaborate in various ways for platform and artificial intelligence (AI) technology advancement.
Choi Soo-yeon, NAVER's CEO, said, "Note is a partner that can grow with NAVER in the AI era, where content value becomes even more important," adding, "Based on the platform capabilities of both companies and content synergy, we will pursue technology advancement and the discovery of new services to enhance competitiveness globally."
Kato Sadaaki, note's CEO, said, "It is a great honor to work with NAVER, one of Korea's leading corporations," emphasizing, "Through this collaboration with NAVER, we have been able to establish a structure to deliver creators' works from Asia to the world."