Hyundai Motor Group spins off four internal startups this year

[Courtesy of Hyundai Motor Group]

Hyundai Motor Group said on Thursday it has spun off four internal startups – MOBINN, APLAYZ, SURFF Company and CaREDIT – as independent companies this year, creating more opportunities for open innovation under its in-house incubation program, Venture Plaza, which was renamed to ZER01NE Company Builder in 2021 for expansion beyond car manufacturing technology.

The Korean automotive group has been running the startup incubation program since 2000.

Selected startups will receive up to 300 million won ($227,000) to develop and commercialize their products and services for one year, after which they will decide whether to spin off or remain an in-house business. To ease the burden of starting business, Hyundai Motor Group gives startup members the opportunity to rejoin their parent up to three years after the spin-off.

MOBINN has developed autonomous delivery robots that use rubber wheels to climb stairs and use LiDAR and cameras to deliver door to door packages.

APLAYZ provides an artificial intelligence-based service that selects and plays customized music for various conditions based on factors such as the time, weather and visitors’ characteristics.

SURFF Company operates a platform for sharing and brokering ship cargo space in real-time. Its platform has significantly improved the problem of logistics companies not being able to find cargo space on vessels, causing logistics disruptions.

CaREDIT provides a solution that predicts the lifespan of vehicle parts and maintenance costs based on vehicle data analysis.

Hyundai Motor Group has selected and supported a total of 76 teams through its incubation program and 30 of them have become independent companies by this year.