LG actively invests in AI, bio, cleantech

[Photo by Han Joo-hyung]

South Korea’s LG Group is actively investing in the so-called ‘ABC’ fields, or artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology, and cleantech, to secure future growth engines.

According to industry sources on Thursday, LG Technology Ventures recently invested in Aetion Inc., a company that develops and operates a healthcare data analytics platform.

The investment will allow LG Chem Ltd. to speed up the development of new drugs in collaboration with Aetion.

LG formed LG Technology Ventures, a corporate venture capital (CVC) firm in the United States’ Silicon Valley, in 2018 to enhance collaborations with global startups and venture firms with outstanding technology.

More than 40 percent of its total investments (approximately $342.05 million) are concentrated in the AI, biotech, healthcare, and battery sectors.

Earlier this month, LG also invested in Aardvark Therapeutics Inc., a U.S.-based obesity drug development company whose flagship product, ARD-101, is an oral medication that reduces appetite and hunger, earlier in May 2024. According to investment bank Morgan Stanley, the obesity drug market is expected to reach $54 billion by 2030.

The company also invested in LabGenius Ltd., a U.K.-based company that combines AI, robotic automation, and synthetic biology to develop next-generation protein therapeutics.

LG has been focusing on fostering its bio business with the goal of transforming LG Chem into a global pharmaceutical company. The company’s chairman Koo Kwang-mo recently visited LG Chem‘s new drug research and development (R&D) site in Osong, North Chungcheong Province, and a cancer research center in Boston, the United States, to express his support for the company’s bio business as a future growth engine.

LG Technology Ventures is also actively identifying cleantech startups, including participating in the Series B funding round for Li Industries Inc., a lithium-ion battery recycling company in North America. The recycling industry is gaining attention as battery cell companies are increasing their production of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells in the United States, which is expected to lead to a surge in the amount of waste batteries.

LG Energy Solution Ltd. is planning to operate a 16-gigawatt-hour (GWh) LFP battery production plant for energy storage systems (ESS) in Arizona, the United States, from 2026 which will necessitate waste management for electrode production.

LG also invested in Eatron Technologies Ltd., a startup developing AI-based battery management software earlier in 2024.