Hyundai invests W2b in auto chip startup

Bos Semiconductors CEO Park Jae-hong (second row, sixth from left) and the company’s executives and staff pose for a photo at the company headquarters in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province, on Wednesday. (Hyundai Motor Group)

Hyundai Motor Group said Wednesday it has made follow-on investments worth 2 billion won ($1.5 million) in Korea-based auto chip startup Bos Semiconductors in a move to boost its autonomous car business.

Under the deal, the carmaker plans to strengthen its strategic partnership with the startup and develop auto chips for self-driving cars and electric vehicles. Further details on the investment including in which car lineups the startup’s chips will be installed were not made available.

This is the second round of funding made by Hyundai through a venture fund operated by its startup-accelerating platform, Zero1ne, last year.

The latest investment was made in the form of a simple agreement for future equity, which provides the right for the investor on shares in the startup when the company raises a future round of funding.

“We are expanding partnerships with chipmakers to boost our business in software-defined vehicles including autonomous driving,” said an official from Hyundai Motor Group.

“We could also prevent the chip shortage that had been prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Following the recent business tie-up with its chaebol rival Samsung Electronics, industry insiders say the world’s third-largest automaker is going all out to become the first mover in the future mobility business.

Earlier this month, Hyundai and Samsung forged the first-ever supply deal to install the chipmaker’s latest premium automotive processor, called Exynos Auto V920, in Hyundai’s in-car infotainment systems from 2025.

Sources predicted that the two conglomerates are highly likely to bolster business ties in self-driving vehicles as well.

“It is too early to tell whether Hyundai will acquire Bos Semiconductors or other auto chip startups. However, if they show progress in developing more advanced chips, it is likely that the auto giant will acquire the companies like it did with auto software startup 42dot and self-driving car manufacturer Motional,” said Kim Pil-su, a car engineering professor at Daelim University.

Committed to replacing all upcoming Hyundai and Kia cars with software defined vehicles by 2025, Hyundai has injected funding in startups linked to future mobility. Over 1 trillion won went into some 200 domestic and global startups ranging from mobility and electrification to connectivity, driving and artificial intelligence, starting from 2017 to the first quarter of this year.

Founded in 2022, Bos Semiconductors is a fabless startup that designs and develops customized automotive chips. It aims to expand its footing in the global semiconductor fabless market based on its high-performance and low-power semiconductor technology, and artificial intelligence chip technology.

Before setting up the firm, Bos Semiconductors CEO Park Jae-hong served as the vice president and head of foundry design service department of Samsung Electronics from 2019 to 2021.

By Byun Hye-jin(hyejin2@heraldcorp.com)