Naver invests in AI startup SAZO to boost global e-commerce reach

Naver is stepping up its global commerce ambitions with a new investment in SAZO, an artificial intelligence startup specializing in cross-border e-commerce. Naver's startup investment arm, D2SF, announced the investment on Tuesday, signaling a strategic move to enhance its international online retail capabilities.

SAZO leverages generative AI to streamline the often-complicated process of direct purchasing from overseas. The company's technology automates tasks such as predicting shipping costs and customs duties with high accuracy, translating product information, setting local prices, and handling payments and customs clearance. This significantly lowers the entry barriers for both consumers looking to buy foreign goods and sellers aiming to reach international markets.

The startup has already demonstrated strong business potential, particularly in the South Korean and Japanese markets. SAZO operates in partnership with major e-commerce platforms like Rakuten and Mercari in Japan, and Bunjang in South Korea. In the past six months, its monthly transaction volume has surged by approximately sevenfold. The company also secured a pre-Series A investment of 700 million yen (about $4.5 million) last year from Japan Post Capital, the venture capital arm of Japan Post Holdings.

Industry observers view Naver's investment as a key component of its broader global commerce strategy. The cross-border e-commerce market is expanding rapidly, driven by increasing consumer demand for overseas goods, fashion, and second-hand items. Naver, which already operates C2C platforms like Poshmark in North America, Kream in South Korea, and Wallapop in Europe, aims to further integrate SAZO's technology to offer a more seamless overseas shopping experience for its users and to provide creators and intellectual property holders with expanded global sales channels.

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Cross-border commerce is a market that goes beyond simply exposing products overseas; it requires connecting different languages, payment systems, logistics, and customs frameworks across countries into a single purchasing experience. SAZO is discussing various forms of collaboration with Naver Shopping, and we believe it can provide users with a more convenient overseas purchasing experience and offer sellers and creators opportunities to expand their overseas sales channels.