Hyundai and Kia have executed a follow-up investment of 2 billion KRW in Boss Semiconductor, a startup developing vehicle semiconductors.
Last August, Hyundai and Kia had previously invested in Boss Semiconductor through the ZeroOne No. 2 fund, established for startup investments.
Boss Semiconductor is a specialized startup that designs and develops system semiconductors optimized for the software and requirements of its customers’ vehicles.
Boss Semiconductor aims to grow into a global-level fabless company based on its competitive edge in essential technologies for automotive semiconductors, including high-performance low-power semiconductor design, safety and reliability technologies, and AI semiconductor technologies necessary for autonomous driving.
This investment was conducted in a ‘conditional equity purchase agreement’ format, which prioritizes the initial provision of funds to startups with challenging corporate valuation, and determines investors’ equity based on assessed corporate value during subsequent investment rounds.
With this investment, Hyundai and Kia plan to strengthen their strategic collaboration with Boss Semiconductor to promote the development of customized automotive semiconductors that can be partially applied to electric vehicles and autonomous driving cars.
A representative from Hyundai and Kia stated, “The importance of optimized and differentiated high-performance semiconductors is increasing in the rapidly changing automotive and future mobility market. We will establish a close partnership with Boss Semiconductor to develop some customized automotive semiconductors.”
Lee Sang-jin daedusj@autodiary.kr