Mercedes-Benz Startup Incubation Platform 'Startup Autobahn' to be Held in Korea This Year

The 7th time held in Korea worldwide... 'Selection Day' starts on the 31st of next month

Daimler Group's startup incubation platform 'STARTUP AUTOBAHN' will be held in Korea this August. (Photo by Mercedes-Benz Korea)

[Asia Economy Reporter Jihee Kim] Mercedes-Benz Korea announced on the 22nd that it will hold the Daimler Group's startup nurturing platform, 'STARTUP AUTOBAHN,' in Korea this year in collaboration with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Seoul Startup Hub, and SparkLabs, and is accepting applications from participating companies.

STARTUP AUTOBAHN is a global open innovation platform established by the Daimler Group in 2016 to discover promising startups and build cooperative systems. It provides startups with expert mentoring and networking opportunities, investment opportunities through venture capital (VC), and, if necessary, development space and equipment support. So far, it has discovered more than 5,500 startups worldwide and jointly conducted 281 pilot projects in various fields such as IT and artificial intelligence with 176 of these startups.

Notably, this year it will be held in Korea as the seventh country worldwide. It will begin with the 'Selection Day,' a project pitching and networking event, on the 31st of next month. About five startups will be selected through evaluation by Daimler and startup experts, and each startup will be provided with a nurturing support program consisting of assignment of Daimler expert mentors and domestic and international partner companies, mentoring, education, and venture capital networking for about 100 days, along with a project promotion budget of 10 million KRW.

In December, a final pitching event called 'Expo Day' will be held to share development achievements and conduct networking events. Through this, it is explained that there will be opportunities to attract investment through corporate partners and venture capital. Outstanding teams will also be offered the benefit of participating in the Startup Autobahn program in Germany, where they can directly discuss product commercialization opportunities with Daimler headquarters.

Startups selected through Selection Day will have the opportunity to conduct joint projects with Mercedes-Benz Korea's field experts for about 100 days and receive systematic strategic planning know-how from the Daimler Group. Benz Korea expects that STARTUP AUTOBAHN will contribute to the development of an ecosystem for coexistence with domestic startups.

For example, 'wheel.me,' which possesses autonomous driving transport technology, participated in STARTUP AUTOBAHN and realized the production of autonomous driving transport wheels and technology supporting low-cost straight and curved driving for 30 meters. 'Ottopia,' which has remote control realization technology, implemented technology that enables safe and efficient remote operation of vehicles and various machines.

Applications for participating teams will be accepted on the official website until August 14.

Philip Nighting, Head of Open Innovation at Mercedes-Benz Group, said, “Korea has many innovative startups and is a country with sufficient capabilities for their growth. We are pleased to hold STARTUP AUTOBAHN in Korea,” and added, “Through STARTUP AUTOBAHN, we will actively support promising Korean startups connected with Daimler’s open innovation platform to grow into the global market.”