THE KOREA ECONOMIC DAILY, GLOBAL EDITION

RideFlux Inc., a South Korean autonomous driving technology startup, has raised 26 billion won ($1.9 million) in a Series B funding round about four months after winning a temporary permit to run a driverless car at normal speed in the country for the first time.

The company announced on Thursday that it completed its Series B round to raise 26 billion won, which was led by its existing backer Atinum Investment Co.

Additional investors include Yuanta Investment Co., Korea Investment Partners, Murex Partners, state-run Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK), iM Investment Partners, Friend Investment Partners, Korea Investment & Securities Co. and NVestor Co.

Combined with the latest fund, RideFlux has raised a total of 55.2 billion won since its inception in 2018.

The company will use the proceeds to hire more software developers and advance its autonomous driving technology to expand its business portfolio.

The Jeju Island-headquartered startup plans to venture into other major cities in Korea such as Seoul and Busan, as well as cargo transportation service with self-driving trucks.

It is currently developing a 25-ton autonomous driving truck.

“We will further advance our autonomous driving technology through software development and lead the commercialization of Level 4 autonomous driving technology through expanded partnerships with mobility service, car-manufacturing and logistics companies,” said Park Junghee, co-founder and chief executive officer of RideFlux.

KOREA’S FIRST TO RUN AUTONOMOUS CARS AT NORMAL SPEED

In June, RideFlux became Korea’s first to operate a driverless car at normal speed on roads after winning a temporary permit.

With the temporary license, a sports utility vehicle (SUV) equipped with autonomous driving systems and radar sensors developed by RideFlux has been allowed to drive on a 3.2-kilometer circular section of road within the autonomous test-driving area in Sangam-dong, western Seoul. It can drive at a speed of up to 50 km per hour.

This was expected to pave the way for the commercialization of Level 4 autonomous driving services, which do not require a safety operator in the front seat, this year.

The SUV powered by RideFlux self-driving technology passed performance and safety tests in the country’s largest autonomous driving pilot zone in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, in December of last year.

RideFlux has unveiled various autonomous driving services since 2020.

In March, it joined hands with Korea’s No. 1 taxi-hailing app operator Kakao Mobility Corp. to operate autonomous car-hailing service NEMO Ride in Jeju Island.

It also operates a self-driving mini-bus service that runs 116 kilometers for a round trip in the resort island.

Write to Joo-Wan Kim at kjwan@hankyung.com
Sookyung Seo edited this article.