Autonomous vehicle startups in Korea have seen a huge boost in recent years as major automobile companies in Korea like Hyundai are already incorporating AI and autonomous driving technology into their vehicles. They have been vital in supporting mobility startups in Korea specializing in autonomous driving technology. The Korean government has also played a role in the advancement of autonomous driving in Korea by creating a self-driving car testing facility known as K-City. K-City is located 20 miles from Seoul and was built to simulate real-life conditions for self-driving cars accurately. It has become a hotbed for car-sharing startups in Korea as well.
Seoul plans to carry out a $125 million project over the next 5 years to build safe autonomous driving infrastructure throughout the city. Many of the brightest entrepreneurs in Korea are focused on solving transportation issues not just in Korea but all around the world. Below are some of Korea’s top autonomous vehicle startups to watch for going forward.
Korean mobility startup ThorDrive is a self-driving car platform that also has a self-driving delivery service. They finished their pilot run of deploring driverless delivery vans in Silicon Valley. It is not driverless as there is still a safety operator in the front seat.
ThorDrive was established by key researchers from Seoul National University. They were the ones who launched Korea’s first self-driving car SNUver. They showcased their technology at CES 2019 in Las Vegas and are looking to test an autonomous shuttle to transport people across Seoul. It has raised $150 in funding from Ford and Chinese tech giant Baidu and has a current valuation of $900 million.
ThorDrive partnered with E-Mart, one of Korea’s biggest big-box store chains. The partnership allowed Thordrive to test out autonomous delivery vans. The autonomous delivery van will drive pre-mapped routes and a human driver will take over driving once the van is inside the apartment building. Therefore, It will only be a matter of time before E-Mart incorporates driverless cars for delivery services shortly.
42dot raised $88.5 million in their series A round of funding from investors such as Shinhan Financial Group, Lotte Ventures, STIC Ventures, We Ventures, DA Value Investment, and others. Previous investors included many Korean conglomerates such as Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors, LG Electronics, SK Telecom, and CJ Logistics. The investment will be used to advance its urban mobility operating system. To date, they have raised over $130 million and have a valuation of $425 million.
StradVision is a Korean AI startup that uses deep learning camera image detection technology. They aim to become the first self-driving solution company to go public in South Korea. StradVision focuses on developing advanced camera detection technology for self-driving automobiles. In addition, StradVision developed a software solution that uses deep learning to recognize people and even road signs. It is excellent at recognizing distant objects but overlapping objects. They can distinguish between people, cars, bicycles, and objects. Therefore, the camera can even read movement patterns and predict safety measures in advance.
SVNet is StradVision’s deep-learning camera software. StradVision currently provides level 2 technology for ADAS (Advanced driver-assistance systems. Therefore, it not only saves power but is compatible with target hardware systems.
StradVision’s SVNet Software allows vehicles to execute ADAS and self-driving functions, including:
Their software also allows for internal detection to ensure safe driving. These functions include:
The algorithm allows both internal and external technology to work at the same time. The aim is to have more than 6 million automobiles on the road using SVNet in 2024.
StadVision raised $27 million in its series B funding round led by Posco Capital. Therefore, its total funding stands at $45 million to date and is now valued at over $160 million. They are currently doing mass production projects in China and Europe. In addition, they opened a new office in Germany in February, allowing the startup to assist its German automotive partners with mass production projects directly. Moreover, they have also partnered with global OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers. Therefore StradVision will have millions of cars on the streets using its software for autonomous vehicles and ADAS systems within the next two years.
“StradVision’s software solutions for Autonomous Vehicles and ADAS systems are proving successful and attractive to leading automakers and suppliers, as our latest round of funding strongly confirms. StradVision will use this funding to take our groundbreaking products to the next level as we lead the advancement of camera technology in Autonomous Vehicles,” said the CEO of StradVision Junhwan Kim.
They raised $5.8 million in their Pre-Series A funding round which was led by LB Investment and Mando Corporation. Moreover, they will use the funds to develop radar-based sensing technology. It will not only be reliable but also affordable.
“I believe receiving strategic investment from Mando Corp., a global Tier 1 automotive manufacturer, means that our technology has been recognized in the autonomous vehicle market. It will help us grow much faster,” said the CEO of bitsensing, Jae-eun Lee.
bitsensing joined the NVIDA Inception program, and the Plug and Play for Mobility and Smart Cities in Japan and Thailand.
Furthermore, Seoul Robotics has raised $5 million led by the venture arm of the largest bank in Korea – KB Investment. Others included in the funding round were KDB Capital, Access Ventures, and Artesian VC. Artesian VC is the 3rd largest VC firm in Australia.
SOS LAB is a LiDAR sensor startup that has developed a Fish eye Solid-State LiDAR sensor for commercial vehicles that can satisfy both durability and performance while enabling mass production at low costs. They have carried out projects with SK Telecom and KT. In addition, they were named CES 2021 Innovation Award Honoree.
Vueron is a LiDAR perception software provider. Based on AI algorithms, Vueron has developed a high-performance, stable, and practical LiDAR perception software to identify all objects around the sensor. Their flagship product is called ViewOne, which can be deployed on various automotive-qualified processors. Therefore, it can accurately detect and inform drivers of necessary ADAS and autonomous driving information such as surrounding vehicles and road information. It is the world’s first solution that was used for autonomous driving with one LiDAR sensor.
MORAI is one of the few autonomous vehicle startups in Korea developing virtual testing solutions for autonomous driving systems. It provides full-stack autonomous vehicle simulation solutions that convert HD map data into digital twins. This allows for large-scale virtual simulation environments for autonomous driving systems. Virtual simulation environments offer a safer alternative to real road testing by providing a virtual testing solution to verify and validate autonomous driving systems.
Some of MORAI’s corporate clients include Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai AutoEver, and Naver Labs. In addition, in early 2022, MORAI raised $20 million for their series B round from KDB, Naver’s D2 Startup Factory, Korea Investment Partners, KB Investment, Kakao Ventures, Atinum Investment, and Hyundai Motor Group’s ZERO1NE.
Autonomous a2z specializes in autonomous mobility solutions. Some of their services include recognizing surrounding conditions and determining driving conditions strategies for automatic vehicle control. Their solutions can be used across a variety of vehicle platforms and regions. Their core technology is the precise and quick localization algorithm that combines lighter high-definition (HD) maps and recognition results from simultaneous signal processing from multiple LiDAR.
They have also developed an unmanned test kit that automates vehicle driving tests and an autonomous vehicle software development kit that aids in the development of autonomous driving algorithms in research institutes and schools in Korea. Moreover, the company plans to develop and commercialize special vehicles such as container trucks, tractors, and cleaning trucks in Korea.
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