Hyundai, Kia invest extra 2 billion won in automotive chip developer

Hyundai Motor and Kia invested an extra 2 billion won ($1.53 million) in BOS Semiconductors, a Seongnam-based startup that develops chips.

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung speaks during a meeting with his employees on Jan. 3 at its research center in Namyang, Gyeonggi. [YONHAP]

Hyundai Motor and Kia invested an extra 2 billion won ($1.53 million) in BOS Semiconductors, a Seongnam-based startup that develops chips.

This is the second round in which the two Korean automakers have made an investment in the chip developer. They made an investment of an undisclosed amount in the company through the Open Innovation Platform Zero One No. 2 Fund in August of last year.

BOS Semiconductors is a fabless company that designs and develops system semiconductors tailored to the software and requirements of customers in the automotive industry.

The company is considered highly competitive in areas such as high-performance, low-power semiconductor design technology for vehicle applications, safety and reliability-related technologies and artificial intelligence semiconductor technology required for autonomous driving, Hyundai said.

The latest investment follows the Simple Agreement for Future Equity approach, a financing contract that may be used by a startup company to raise capital in its seed financing rounds.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]