[Edaily Reporter Lee So-Hyun ] Kakao(035720)is calling for academic proposals to study the impact of digital platforms on the economic growth of business partners, including creators, small business owners, and corporations.

Kakao announced on the 1st that it is launching the “2026 Research Grant for Everyday Innovation in Digital Platforms” call for proposals.

The “Research Support for Everyday Innovation through Digital Platforms” initiative is designed to facilitate academic examination of the impact digital platforms have on the daily lives, businesses, and society as a whole for both users and partners. This marks the second year of the program, following its launch last year.

While last year’s call for proposals highlighted how Kakao Group’s services and technologies innovate users’ daily lives, this year’s initiative focuses on the impact of digital platforms on the business partner ecosystem and economic growth.

The research subjects include various platform services of the Kakao Group, such as Kakao, kakaopay, Kakao Mobility, and Kakao Entertainment. Research proposals are accepted without restriction to academic fields, including business, economics, sociology, psychology, education, design, and engineering. Selected projects will each receive 20 million won in research funding.

Eligibility is limited to researchers who have published papers in domestic or international academic journals as the first author or corresponding author. For domestic journals, eligibility is based on those listed in the Korean Citation Index (KCI) or designated as “excellent” journals; for international journals, eligibility is based on journals indexed in SCI, SSCI, SCIE, A&HCI, or SCOPUS.

The application period runs from August 1 to August 31. Applications can be submitted via email (research.kakao@).

A review committee composed of Kakao representatives and external academic experts will conduct the evaluation. They will comprehensively assess the originality of the research topic, the validity of the research question, the appropriateness of the research methods, and the expected contribution of the research results.

Selected research teams will conduct their research from October 2026 to January 2027. The research findings are scheduled to be presented at an event hosted by Kakao in the first half of 2027.

Kakao operates this research support program to academically examine how the group’s diverse services and technologies are transforming the daily lives of users and partners, and creating better experiences and new opportunities. Last year, Kakao selected nine research projects related to Kakao, kakaopay, and Kakao Mobility, providing 20 million won in research funding per project. The results of these studies were unveiled at the “2026 Kakao Daily Life Innovation Conference” in March of this year.

Kakao plans to continue its efforts, in collaboration with the academic community, to foster a healthy platform ecosystem and promote social value.

Kwon Dae-yeol, Head of ESG at Kakao’s CA Council, stated, “Following last year’s focus on innovation in users’ daily lives, this year we aim to examine, together with experts in our society, how digital platforms contribute to the economic growth of our business partners.” He added, “This will be an opportunity to identify the growth opportunities that the platform creates for various partners and to jointly explore directions for the sustainable development of the platform business ecosystem.”