Hyundai Motor Group Zero1, Over 100 Equity Investments... Listed Companies Also Emerging One After Another

Hyundai Motor, Open Innovation Platform Zero1
Accelerating Startups as an Accelerator
Equity Investment, Collaboration, and Mentoring to Foster Startups
Cooperation in Developing Advanced Future Mobility Technologies

Hyundai Motor Group's open innovation platform Zero1 has collaborated with and invested in over 100 startups since its establishment in 2018. The startups receiving investment gain opportunities for technology development and commercialization, while Hyundai Motor Group benefits by integrating the startups' innovative technologies to aid in the development of new-concept future mobility.

Mobin, a last-mile delivery specialist company, spun off from Hyundai Motor's in-house startup to become an independent corporation. They developed a delivery robot equipped with specially developed rubber wheels that can freely climb stairs. The robot is equipped with LiDAR and cameras for autonomous driving, enabling short-distance deliveries regardless of day or night. They are conducting pilot projects for delivery robots with Hyundai Construction and Hyundai Glovis.

Hyundai Motor Group Zero1, Over 100 Equity Investments... Listed Companies Also Emerging One After Another

A representative from the last-mile robot delivery company Mobin is explaining the delivery robot technology that freely goes up and down stairs. Photo by Hyundai Motor Company

Mobiltech possesses immersive digital twin technology that replicates real spaces exactly as twin models in virtual environments. They can create a twin city environment identical to the actual city in a 3D format within virtual space. When this technology is applied to autonomous driving precision maps, it is expected to significantly enhance the autonomous driving software (SW) capabilities of finished vehicles.

There is also a company that creates new materials from plastic waste using depolymerization technology. Teracle utilizes depolymerization technology to chemically break down and re-fuse plastics, enabling the recycling of colored PET bottles and polyester-based clothing. Using recycled materials to manufacture car seats or seat belts can help achieve carbon neutrality from an ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) perspective.

Startups invested in by Zero1 have also been increasingly recognized in the market and have gone public. SureSoftTech, a software verification solution specialist, attracted investment from Hyundai Motor twice, in 2012 and 2017. Recognized for its technological capabilities, the company was listed on the KOSDAQ market in 2023, and Hyundai Motor realized profits by selling part of its shares.

Intelligent robot service company Clobot also went public on the KOSDAQ market in October last year. Clobot is the first robotics software company to be listed on the domestic stock market. The company also formed a strategic partnership with Boston Dynamics, a robotics subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Group.