Daum Kakao, the Korean Internet giant, is betting big on a new CEO who may be less experienced but full of enterprise for its next big leap in the burgeoning mobile era.

The company said Monday it has named 35-year-old Rim Ji-hoon, founder of venture capital firm K Cube Ventures, to replace the current co-CEOs Choi Sae-hoon, 48, and Lee Sir-goo, 49. 

Although the average age of the employees at Daum Kakao is 34, a 30-something CEO is quite rare even within Korea’s young IT community. His appointment comes at a crucial juncture as synergies have yet to explode since the merger of the nation’s No. 2 search engine Daum and then-fast-growing mobile messenger operator Kakao in October last year.

Big Internet companies like Naver, Daum and NCSoft are currently experiencing a generational shift from PCs to mobile devices. Even though many are seeing more than half of profits from mobile services now, their PC-based founders are struggling to catch up with ever-evolving mobile trends.

“People think IT firms are always innovation-driven and act faster. But there is a clear generation gap among the young founders and their even younger employees,” said an official of a local portal service on condition of anonymity. 

“Moreover, most start-up founders in the early days were based on PCs. The existing generation doesn’t want to lose their vested rights, which led to their failure in promptly responding to the industry’s shift to mobile.”

Rim, who majored in industrial engineering at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, is a specialist in venture capital. Prior to setting up his own venture, he had worked at NHN, Boston Consulting Group and SoftBank Ventures Korea.

While leading K Cube Ventures over the past three years, he invested in some 50 start-ups and proved his investment skills. Daum Kakao chairman Kim Beom-soo had some 40 percent stake in Rim’s company before acquiring it in March.

With Rim’s arrival, Daum Kakao is set to be controlled under a single CEO system for the first time since last year’s merger, gaining a more unified identity.

In the meantime, industry watchers predicted that chairman Kim, who founded Kakao, is expected to wield more influence over the company’s mobile-focused strategy, considering Rim has no experience in service management. 

The new appointment will be put to a vote at an upcoming board meeting on Sept. 23. The current CEOs pledged to support the new chief executive. Daum Kakao’s market capitalization is around 8.24 trillion won ($7 billion).

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)