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https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/tech/2023/12/419_364656.html?utm_source=na
Mercedes-Benz Korea President and CEO Mathias Vaitl, third from right, poses with representatives of eight of the nine startups selected for the carmaker's Startup Autobahn Korea this year during Expo Day 2023 at a cultural pavilion in Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of Mercedes-Benz Korea
By Ko Dong-hwanMercedes-Benz Korea has unveiled the latest group of local startups it has supported to promote their ambitions in cutting-edge technologies including smart factories, AI and self-driving systems, according to the company, Thursday.
Nine startups were selected last July by Startup Autobahn Korea, a regional arm of the"global open innovation platform" launched by Mercedes-Benz Group AG in 2016 to discover and nurture potential startups and form business partnerships.
The startups held an Expo Day event,Wednesday, at a local cultural pavilion in Seoul to present the projects they have been working on during the past 100 days under the training program. Defense developers Hanwha Systems and LG Electronics joined the program as partner firms.
The German car giant's Korean office has backed the startups with business networking throughout the program, helping them nab venture capital from its partner companies and seek investment opportunities. Seoul Business Agency and the Korean International Trade Association were among the nonprofit business organizations that joined the program and helped it expand its network, according to the company.
Autobahn Korea sought out various networking events worldwide to promote the Korean startups. Last September in Germany, it hosted Smart Mobility Meetup, a networking event for startups in the automotive industry, jointly with Plug and Play, a global accelerator in the industry, and helped five of the startups find new overseas trade routes. In Korea, it promoted its apprentices at local startup networking events like Next Rise 2023 and K-Global Cluster.
Mathias Vaitl, president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Korea, said Startup Autobahn Korea has improved the country's startup ecology and built global networks to promote small firms' innovative technologies.
"We plan to continue meeting more local startups in the country and support their global expansion," he said, adding there will be another Startup Autobahn Korea program next year.
Mercedes-Benz Korea has helped 40 startups through the program since 2020, when its headquarters launched the program for the seventh time in the world. Now, among Mercedes-Benz's seven regional offices that have run the program, those in Korea and Germany are the only ones that have supported 40 or more startups.