Hankook Sets Up Growth Engine Investment Fund

Hankook & Company established a fund with the aim to secure a new growth engine in the future. The first investment destination is Mobiltech, an Artificial Intelligent (AI)-based spatial information and service startup.

Hankook & Company, which launched as an operating holding company in April, announced ‘S.T.R.E.A.M.’, a new long-term business portfolio in line with the celebration of Hankook’s 80th anniversary. Each letter from ‘S.T.R.E.A.M.’ delivers the essential directions on where Hankook is headed in the future. The letter ‘S’ stands for Smart Energy, by using renewable energy and by producing eco-friendly car batteries, ‘T’ represents Tire & Core biz. ‘R’ points to Rising Tech which is to be adapted for business portfolio diversification. Rounding out the acronym, ‘E’ represents Electrification and ‘A’ for Automation and efficiency through advanced technology such as robotics, whereas ‘M’ stands for Mobility as the entire industry.

Hankook & Company has been seeking to increase innovation through fostering startups, venture capital and cooperating with venture capitalists (VC) to discover future growth engines in the S.T.R.E.A.M. segment. As a result, the company set up ‘S.T.R.E.A.M. Fund’ with We Ventures, a Korean VC that achieved rapid growth over the last two years since being established. The fund aims to preemptively recognize early startups in the S.T.R.E.A.M. fields and aid the growth of these companies. In addition, Fund of Funds operated by Korea Venture Investment Corp. and many other financial institutions also took part. Moreover, Hankook & Company has agreed to fulfill its corporate social responsibility by sharing the infrastructure and best practices of its core affiliate, Hankook Tire, to S.T.R.E.A.M. affiliated startups.

3D spatial information service startup Mobiltech was selected as the first investment destination of the fund. Founded in 2017, Mobiltech offers highly accurate 3D mapping solutions. It developed 3D spatial information related hardware and software with its original technology, and provides three-dimensional precision maps to many customers such as Phantom AI.

Hankook & Company foresees that the global market for high-precision 3D data will grow rapidly with the commercialization of autonomous mobility services. Hankook & Company also considers the possible collaboration opportunities between Hankook and Mobiltech, with the hope of leveraging Mobiltech’s vast business domain and business development capabilities.