Hyundai Mobis on the hunt for technologies

Industry

Hyundai Mobis on the hunt for technologies

Published: 04 Nov. 2018, 19:50

Hyundai Motor Group subsidiaries are searching for start-ups pioneering auto technologies of the future such as autopilot.

Hyundai Mobis said Sunday it launched an open innovation center in Silicon Valley called M. Cube, which will be responsible for investing in and fostering promising start-ups in autonomous driving, connectivity, artificial intelligence and automobile security.

Sean Ryu, an entrepreneur and 20-year veteran of investing in start-ups will be heading the center, which is set to open early next year.

The car parts affiliate of Hyundai Motor’s existing research center in Shenzhen, China will be working with M. Cube, too.

M. Cube will specialize in artificial intelligence and big data and will be dedicated to securing autopilot and connectivity technologies optimized for the Chinese market, in partnership with local start-ups.

Mobis explained that Shenzhen, now the center of technological innovation in China, offers the best environment to find start-ups with advanced technologies.

M. Cube will be partnering with Hyundai Cradle, Hyundai Motor’s investment arm in Silicon Valley and Tel Aviv, to invest in 10 or so global start-ups - in United States and Israel, Asia and Europe - by next year.

“We won’t be just investing in start-ups but also support start-ups with creative ideas in autopilot and connectivity to help apply them to vehicles in the early stage,” said Jung Su-gyung, managing director of Hyundai Mobis.

In August, Hyundai Mobis invested 8 billion won ($7.1 million) in local computer vision start-up StradVision to gain technologies for autonomous driving.

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun@joongang.co.kr]