Hyundai auto group makes strategic investment in domestic tech start-up

By Lim Chang-won Posted : April 15, 2019, 11:20 Updated : April 15, 2019, 11:20

[CODE42.ai]

SEOUL -- South Korea's Hyundai auto group made a strategic investment in a new domestic tech startup to develop advanced smart mobility solutions and cooperate in self-driving cars, connected services, robotics, artificial intelligence and precision guidance.

Hyundai did not disclose financial terms on its investment in CODE42.ai, a new startup set up by Song Chang-hyun, a former chief technology officer in South Korea's largest web company Naver. The auto group said the startup would become a key partner in mobility and other business projects.

With a pool of engineers in voice recognition, AI, mobility, self-driving, precision maps, robotics, computer vision and big data, CODE42.ai develops an urban mobility operating system (UMOS) that meets the needs for shopping, fast delivery, transportation and mobile devices. This technology integrates self-driving cars, drones and automated delivery robots to provides mobility services.

It was the latest of a series of Hyundai's strategic investments in promising domestic and foreign start-ups.

Last year, Hyundai acquired a stake worth $275 million in Grab, a ride-hailing and logistics service in Singapore, followed by investment in Australia's car sharing platform "Car Next Door", and invested in Revv, a self-drive car-sharing company in India, and Migo, an American company which has developed an on-demand ride discovery application.

In March this year, the auto group made a $300 million strategic investment in India's top ride-hailing platform, Ola, to develop unique fleet and mobility solutions, build India-specific electric vehicles and infrastructure, and nurture class opportunities and offerings for partners with customized vehicles on Ola's platform.

Separately, Hyundai Mobis, the group's car parts subsidiary, partnered with Yandex, a Russian company specializing in Internet-related products and services, to develop systems for a high level of autonomous driving that can be used for driverless taxis.

Mobis also made a strategic investment in Beijing Deep Glint Technology, a Chinese startup known for face recognition technology, to develop connected car technologies such as motion recognition and pattern analysis using deep learning. Mobis plans to develop technologies that can analyze the faces of drivers and passengers to identify emotions. 
 
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