Kakao will select 100 businesses that achieved results using Kakao Business services and provide benefits worth a total of 500 million won.

Kakao said on Sept. 17 it will hold the 2026 Kakao Business Best Awards. Applications will be accepted through Oct. 14 on the Kakao Business Seminar website.

Now in its fifth year, the event is an online contest to find examples of businesses that grew by using the Kakao Business platform. Eligible entries include cases using Kakao Business services and tools such as Kakao Advertising, KakaoTalk Channels, Kakao Shopping, KakaoTalk Reservations, store management and Developers.

This year, Kakao expanded award categories to 10. It moved beyond the existing division centered on owners and marketers and refined categories based on service-use strategies and performance by area, including Local Impact, Performance Leader and Rising Seller.

Businesses can apply even if they did not use multiple services, as long as they effectively used a specific business tool or achieved results in areas such as expanding customer touchpoints, improving marketing efficiency or growing sales.

Kakao will select a total of 100 businesses across 10 categories and present top and excellence awards. Of those, 3 teams with outstanding cases will receive the grand prize.

Winning teams will receive advertising cash and KakaoTalk Gift certificates worth a total of 500 million won on a tiered basis. Some winning teams will also receive exposure on Tokdeal and Kakao Shopping Live, one-on-one consulting for Tokstore, and opportunities to participate as speakers at Kakao Business seminars.

Winners will be announced on Nov. 4, and the awards ceremony will be held on Dec. 14.

Jun-yeon Hwang (황준연), Kakao Business domain leader, said Kakao subdivided award categories this year so each business's characteristics and performance could be better highlighted. He said the company will continue practical support as a platform that helps partners grow their businesses.