Hyundai Motor Group to invest in fabless startup BOS Semiconductors 

Hyundai Motor Group announced on Wednesday that it will invest in Seongnam-based fabless startup BOS Semiconductors, which designs system-on-chip (SoC) solutions, essential for automotive semiconductors. 

The South Korean conglomerate will leverage the second fund of its ZER01NE platform, which was formed last February as a collaborative effort of Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Corp., and Hyundai Motor Securities, along with external investors including Korea Development Bank and Shinhan Bank. 

ZER01NE’s second fund has a broader investment target and scope than the first fund formed in 2018. 

The second fund is for investing in startups that can aid the conglomerate in its future mobility businesses, such as advanced air mobility, eco-friendly vehicles, connected cars, artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics.

“We expect BOS Semiconductor to become one of our strategic partners, contributing to the Hyundai Motor Group’s future mobility business,” said the president of the group’s innovation division Chi Young-cho. “We will continue to invest and support other promising startups.”

Launched last year, the ZER01NE Accelerator is an open innovation platform aimed at facilitating collaboration between startups and the automotive giant on various projects. 

Startups can apply to one of the 45 projects set up by Hyundai Motor Group’s internal teams under eight key categories, such as mobility and logistics, eco-tech and in-car UX.

Write to See-Eun Lee at see@hankyung.com
Jee Abbey Lee edited this article.