Naver Says “Unable to Acquire Anthropic Shares Directly, Opted for Indirect Investment via VC Fund”

Growing Investor Interest in Anthropic Ahead of October IPO

It has recently been confirmed that Naver invested in Anthropic, a U.S.-based artificial intelligence (AI) company scheduled for an initial public offering (IPO) in October, drawing attention to the background of this investment.

On August 11, Naver announced that it made an approximately KRW 10 billion investment in Anthropic several years ago through a U.S. venture capital (VC) fund. In June of last year, Naver established Naver Ventures in San Francisco, and has made direct investments through it in video AI company Twelve Labs and voice AI company Eleven Labs, among others.

Initially, Naver hoped to acquire Anthropic shares directly, but as that did not come to fruition, the company opted for investment through a VC fund as an alternative. Anthropic, which supplies the AI model ‘Claude,’ was valued at USD 965 billion (approximately KRW 1,380 trillion) during a Series H fundraising round in May. As expectations grew that Anthropic's listing would bring massive investment returns, leading global companies rushed to acquire and invest in its shares.

Lee Hae-jin, Chairman of the Board at Naver Corporation. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

In Korea, SK Telecom’s investment in Anthropic is a representative case. On August 14, 2023, SK Telecom acquired Anthropic shares for approximately KRW 132.1 billion. As of the end of last year, the book value jumped sevenfold from KRW 192.5 billion to KRW 1.3762 trillion.

Although SK Telecom’s equity stake dropped to 0.3% as Anthropic issued new shares, the current stake is valued at nearly KRW 4 trillion. In May, SK Telecom also participated in Anthropic’s Series H fundraising round and secured additional shares. In addition, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix participated in the Series H round to expand the AI semiconductor supply chain.

SK Telecom CEO Jung Jae-heon told reporters in Tokyo this June, “We recently made an additional investment in Anthropic,” and added, “As an early investor, we had opportunities for further participation.” At the time, Jung explained, “Rather than focusing on the potential return after Anthropic’s IPO, we thought it would be preferable to continue investing in order to strengthen our cooperative relationship.” This indicates a stronger emphasis on expanding business partnerships through enhanced collaboration, rather than simply cashing out after Anthropic's IPO.

Regarding Naver’s investment in Anthropic, an official at Naver stated, “The investment through the VC fund was made a long time ago, but as the scale was limited and it was not a direct investment, we find it somewhat regrettable.” The official added, “Anthropic is determined to enter the Korean market, and since Naver and Anthropic have many areas where they can create synergy in the AI field, both companies will cooperate to foster the AI ecosystem.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.