Korean carmakers take control of local autonomous driving player
Korean automakers Hyundai Motor and Kia have paid a combined KRW 427.7bn (USD 328.8m) for control of 42dot, a local autonomous driving software developer in which they and several VC investors already held minority stakes.
Hyundai is putting in KRW 274.7bn to increase its holding from 8.8% to 55.9%, according to a filing. Kia – an affiliate of Hyundai – has contributed KRW 153bn, taking its interest from 11.1% to 26.2%, a separate filing stated. The investments value the company at KRW 583bn.
Founded in 2019 by Chang-Hyeon Song, who previously worked for Naver, Apple, and Microsoft, 42dot has received several rounds of funding. Hyundai and Kia were both early investors, alongside the likes of LG Electronics, SK Telecom, and Timewise Investment.
In 2020, KTB Network, LIG Nex1, and Shinhan Bank invested KRW 15bn, and then Shinhan Capital and Shinhan Investment put in KRW 30bn the following year, according to AVCJ Research. This was followed by KRW 104bn round – at a reported valuation of KRW 500bn – featuring Shinhan Financial Group, Lotte Rental, Lotte Ventures, Stic Ventures, We Ventures, and DA Value Investment.
The filings do not indicate which – if any – of these investors are exiting as a result of Hyundai and Kia increasing their stakes.
42dot, formerly known as Code42.ai, is an autonomous transportation-as-a-service (ATaaS) company. Its core platform, Umos, integrates services such as e-hailing, fleet management, demand-responsive transport, and smart logistics. There is also Akit, an autonomous driving hardware and software solution, and Tap, which specialises in autonomous ride-hailing services.
Revenue for the most recent financial year was KRW 402m, up from KRW 25m, while the company's net loss widened from KRW 21.5bn to KRW 34.5bn.
Other recent investments in Korea's autonomous driving space include a USD 20m Series B for Morai, a vehicle simulation technology provider. Hyundai was among the participants, via Zer01ne, its mobility and logistics accelerator. 42dot is one of Morai's customers.
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