Hyundai Motor Group has recently announced the spinoff of four of its internal startups, namely MOBINN, APLAYZ, SURFF Company, and CaREDIT, as independent companies this year. These startups were part of the Korean automotive group’s ZERO1NE Company Builder program, an incubation program that has been running since 2000 to help Hyundai employees establish startups beyond car manufacturing technology.
To date, the automaker has selected and supported a total of 76 teams through its incubation program, with 30 of them becoming independent companies by this year. Selected startups will receive up to 300 million won ($227,000) to develop and commercialize their products and services for one year. After that, they can decide whether to spin off or remain an in-house business.
Hyundai Motor Group provides startup members the opportunity to rejoin their parent company up to three years after the spin-off to ease the burden of starting a business. The startups that have been spun off have unique and innovative offerings.
MOBINN, for instance, has developed autonomous delivery robots that use rubber wheels to climb stairs, LiDAR, and cameras to deliver door-to-door packages.
APLAYZ provides an AI-based service that plays customized music for various conditions based on the time, weather, and visitors’ characteristics.
SURFF Company operates a real-time platform for sharing and brokering ship cargo space, significantly improving the logistics industry’s problem of finding cargo space on vessels.
CaREDIT offers a solution that predicts the lifespan of vehicle parts and maintenance costs based on vehicle data analysis. Hyundai Motor Group’s latest move to spin off these startups as independent companies is expected to create more opportunities for open innovation under its in-house incubation program.
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