NAVER Corporation
Company History
NAVER History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones
Founded 1999 in Seongnam, South Korea
When was NAVER founded?
NAVER was founded in 1999 in Seongnam, South Korea by Lee Hae-jin, making it 27 years old.
- Founded
- 1999
- Founding place
- Seongnam, South Korea
- Founders
- Lee Hae-jin
- Headquarters today
- Seongnam, South Korea
- Milestones documented
- 12 (1997–2026)
- Current CEO
- Choi Soo-yeon
- Acquisitions
- 3
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1997 | Web Glider Built Inside Samsung SDS |
| 1999 | NAVER Established |
| 2002 | Knowledge iN Launches |
| 2011 | LINE Launched |
| 2013 | NAVER Re-emerges from NHN |
| 2016 | LINE IPO |
| 2017 | Han Seong-sook becomes CEO |
| 2021 | Wattpad Acquisition |
| 2022 | Choi Soo-yeon Becomes CEO |
| 2023 | Poshmark Acquisition Closes |
| 2025 | Revenue Reaches KRW 12.035 Trillion |
| 2026 | Record Q2 Revenue |
- Where was NAVER founded?
- NAVER was founded in Seongnam, South Korea in 1999.
- Who founded NAVER?
- NAVER was founded by Lee Hae-jin.
- When did NAVER start?
- NAVER was founded in 1999.
- How old is NAVER?
- NAVER is 27 years old as of 2026.
Founding Story
Lee Hae-jin and colleagues built a search engine called Web Glider as an in-house venture at Samsung SDS in 1997, then spun it out as Naver Comm in June 1999. The early Korean web had little native content, so in 2002 Naver launched Knowledge iN, a Q&A service where users answered each other's questions. That user-generated library made Naver results more useful than rivals' and helped it overtake Daum and Yahoo Korea.
Founders
Lee Hae-jin
Lee Hae-jin founded Naver in 1999 after spinning his search project out of Samsung SDS. He oversaw the 2000 merger with Hangame that created NHN, the launch of Knowledge iN and the 2013 separation of NAVER from NHN's games business. After years as Global Investment Officer focused on overseas deals, he returned as chairman of the board in 2025 and remains NAVER's largest individual shareholder. Lee Hae-jin was born in 1967 in South Korea.
Key Milestones
Web Glider Built Inside Samsung SDS
Lee Hae-jin and three colleagues build the search engine Web Glider as an in-house venture at Samsung SDS, the project that becomes Naver.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgNAVER Established
The Web Glider team spins out and incorporates NAVER.com, entering a Korean portal market then dominated by Daum and Yahoo.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgKnowledge iN Launches
NAVER builds a user-generated knowledge base that strengthens local search relevance.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgLINE Launched
Naver's Japanese subsidiary launched the LINE messaging app in June 2011.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgNAVER Re-emerges from NHN
NAVER separates from NHN and focuses on portal, search, content, commerce, and platform services.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHan Seong-sook becomes CEO
Han Seong-sook became CEO of NAVER in 2017. Led Naver before Choi Soo-yeon took over in 2022.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgWattpad Acquisition
NAVER acquires storytelling platform Wattpad for about $600 million, expanding global creator IP.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgChoi Soo-yeon Becomes CEO
Choi Soo-yeon becomes NAVER's CEO, the youngest and second female CEO in company history.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgPoshmark Acquisition Closes
NAVER completes its $1.2 billion acquisition of US social-commerce marketplace Poshmark, agreed in October 2022.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgRevenue Reaches KRW 12.035 Trillion
NAVER reports 12.1% annual revenue growth and operating profit of ~$1.57 billion (KRW 2.2081 trillion).
Source: navercorp.comRecord Q2 Revenue
NAVER reports Q2 2026 revenue of ~$2.41 billion (KRW 3.3888 trillion), up 16.2%, with operating profit flat at ~$369 million (KRW 520.3 billion).
Source: chosun.comMajor Acquisitions
Xerox Research Center Europe
2017NAVER acquired Xerox Research Center Europe in 2017.
Wattpad
2021Naver announced in January 2021 that it would acquire Canadian storytelling platform Wattpad for about $600 million, combining Wattpad's large North American user-generated fiction community with Naver's existing Webtoon digital-comics business.
Poshmark
2023Naver agreed in October 2022 to acquire US social-commerce marketplace Poshmark for $17.90 per share in cash, an enterprise value of about $1.2 billion, completing the deal on January 5, 2023, to gain a foothold in the American secondhand and social-commerce apparel market.
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NAVER Company History FAQ
What are the major milestones in the history of NAVER Corporation?
Milestones include its 1999 founding, the 2000 merger forming NHN, the 2002 launch of Knowledge iN, the 2004 launch of Webtoon, the 2011 launch of LINE in Japan, the 2013 split into NAVER and NHN Entertainment, the 2015 launch of Naver Pay, the 2021 Wattpad buyout, the 2023 Poshmark acquisition, and the 2024 Webtoon Nasdaq IPO.
How did NAVER survive the dot-com crash in the early 2000s?
While many early internet portals collapsed due to lack of revenue, NAVER survived by merging with Hangame, whose lucrative online gaming monetization and paid avatars generated essential cash flow until search advertising matured.
When did NAVER introduce its flagship Webtoon service and how did it evolve?
NAVER launched Naver Webtoon in 2004 under founder Junkoo Kim, pioneering the vertical-scroll digital comic format optimized for smartphones, which grew into WEBTOON Entertainment, a global digital storytelling leader.
How did NAVER build its major 1784 robot-friendly headquarters?
Completed in 2022 in Bundang, '1784' is the world's first commercial building designed specifically for human-robot coexistence, featuring 5G wireless networks, automated robot elevators (Rookie), facial-recognition access, and digital twin management.
What was the significance of the opening of GAK Sejong data center in 2023?
In November 2023, NAVER opened 'GAK Sejong', one of Asia's largest hyperscale AI data centers. Spanning 294,000 square meters and housing 600,000 server units, it provides the computational foundation for HyperCLOVA X.
How did NAVER transition from a desktop portal to a mobile-first leader?
Between 2014 and 2018, NAVER redesigned its entire portal architecture into modular mobile cards, integrated Naver Pay directly into mobile browsers, and built specialized vertical apps for shopping, maps, and comics.
How did NAVER celebrate its 25th corporate anniversary in 2024?
In 2024, NAVER celebrated 25 years since its 1999 founding, marking the milestone with the Nasdaq IPO of Webtoon Entertainment, the commercial launch of HyperCLOVA X enterprise tools, and landmark AI infrastructure expansions across the Middle East.
What is NAVER Corporation's strategic vision for the next decade?
NAVER aims to be the leading global provider of Sovereign AI, expand its digital commerce footprint across North America and Asia, lead autonomous spatial robotics, and connect creators with global audiences through multimedia IP franchises.
How did Naver defeat Google in South Korea using Knowledge iN?
In 2002, when web pages written in the Korean language were scarce, Naver launched "Knowledge iN," a crowdsourced Q&A platform where users asked and answered questions in Korean. By integrating user-generated answers directly into search results via "Comprehensive Search," Naver provided far richer local answers than Google or Yahoo, securing an insurmountable domestic search market share exceeding 70%.
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