Hyundai held an Open Innovation Tech Day event in Seoul, during which the Group announced its coexisting and future strategies with participants within the global startup ecosystem and shared the results of its open innovation initiatives to date.
Hyundai Motor Group plans to secure future innovative growth engines by establishing cooperative relationships with various select startups around the world while continuing to support and nurture their global advancement.
The Group announced that it has invested KRW 1.3 trillion (Rs 8,351 crore) in more than 200 startups since 2017 up until the first quarter of 2023 when it began strengthening its open innovation activities. These investment numbers exclude major investments, such as Boston Dynamics, Motional, and Supernal.
The Group has invested in numerous business areas, including electrification, connectivity, artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous driving, renewables, robotics, and mobility services. By segment, mobility services recorded around KRW 700 billion in investment in projects, including mobility service companies such as Grab in Singapore and OLA in India.
Electrification and connectivity followed with KRW 280 billion and KRW 126 billion, respectively. The Group has also invested KRW 60 billion in AI, 54 billion in autonomous driving, and 25 billion in energy, including hydrogen.
“Startups that can lead to positive changes in people’s lives through innovative technologies or services are the companies we are looking for,” said Dr Yunseong Hwang, Vice President and Head of the Open Innovation Execution Group at Hyundai Motor Group.
“We will establish a coexistence ecosystem by actively investing in startups that provide important insights into the creation of future smart and sustainable mobility solutions and improving wellbeing and quality of life for humanity.”
Hyundai Motor Group’s Open Innovation initiative is largely embodied in four types of investment: sensing investment to identify trends in fast-changing new growth business areas; linked investment to promote actual cooperation according to expected strategic synergy; strategic investment to immediately or quickly secure business capabilities, and company building for internal startups with necessary technologies and business areas for the Group.
Hyundai Group operates global innovation hubs called ‘CRADLE’ in five countries: the United States, Germany, Israel, China, and Singapore. The Group has also established ‘ZER01NE’ in Korea, which serves as a hub for open innovation.
Additionally, the group operates a total of 19 investment funds in major countries, with a focus on securing global investment capabilities to support startups.
ZER01NE, which was established in 2018, has recruited startups through its ZER01NE Accelerator program to discover valuable startups and explore the possibilities of strategic use cases of their innovative technologies.
It has also expanded its open innovation initiatives to various areas beyond automobiles also, operating its ZER01NE Playground for collaborations with artists and creators.
The Group also operates an in-house startup system called ‘ZER01NE Company Builder’, which is available for executives and employees of group companies to foster in-house startups.
A total of 30 in-house startups have spun off, generating cumulative sales of KRW 280 billion. These startups have been recognized for their market value and business feasibility, leading to the hiring of more than 800 new employees.
The Group will continue its collaboration strategies with diverse startups that will transform the future based on creative ideas. Open innovation areas that are newly sought include Software Defined Vehicles (SDVs), resource circulation, semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), and quantum technology.
Meanwhile, Hyundai’s ZER01NE open innovation platform participated for the first time at the 2023 CES held in Las Vegas in January. ZER01NE laid the foundation for global expansion by introducing ten domestic startups in cooperation, including 60 Hertz, eMotiv, ArgosVision, and CellPlus Korea.
