Kurly acquires AI solutions firm 1Z Labs to accelerate transformation

Kurly is acquiring AI solutions firm 1Z Labs, with the deal aimed at accelerating the company's AI transformation, or AX, through technology development and service upgrades.

According to Kurly on Sunday, the company will complete a share exchange with 1Z Labs on Aug. 4 at a ratio of 1 to 18,437,990. To facilitate the transaction, Kurly will issue 453,518 new common shares. Following the exchange, 1Z Labs will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Kurly.

The acquisition is intended to strengthen Kurly's AI-driven business competitiveness and improve management efficiency. The company has been working to establish itself as an "AI-native" enterprise by building companywide AX capabilities.

Kurly is pursuing a range of AI initiatives, including embedding AI across its services, establishing an AI governance framework, and identifying new AI-based projects and service opportunities. Bringing 1Z Labs in as a fully owned subsidiary is expected to give fresh momentum to those efforts.

Kurly and 1Z Labs are currently co-developing several tools to boost operational efficiency, including a creative AI system, an AI customer service platform called AICS, and an in-house advertising demand-side platform.

The creative AI system raises productivity by automating repetitive tasks such as producing advertising banners and product images, with AI handling the full workflow from planning to output.

AICS has been deployed in Kurly's one-on-one customer inquiry channel, where AI handles inquiries, cancellations and returns. The system currently manages about 40 percent of inquiries received on any given day.

To lead its AX push more effectively, Kurly has appointed Kwak Geun-bong, CEO of 1Z Labs, as head of its AX Center — the internal unit that oversees the adoption and application of AI technology across the organization.

"Through this acquisition of 1Z Labs, we plan to maximize AX synergies while rapidly internalizing our own proprietary AI capabilities," Kurly CEO Kim Seul-ah said. "We will reinvent ourselves as a company that leads innovation in the e-commerce market by combining commerce with AI technology."