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| Daimler AG Head of Open Innovation Philipp Gneiting, right, poses during the opening ceremony of Connected Car Startup Hackathon held by Mercedes-Benz Korea in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Wednesday. Second from left are Vice Minister of SMEs and Startups Kim Hak-do, Mercedes-Benz Korea CEO Dimitris Psillakis and Gneiting. Courtesy of Mercedes-Benz Korea |
By Nam Hyun-woo
Mercedes-Benz and Daimler Group are gearing up for their mission to scout innovative Korean startups, to blend fresh ideas and creative technologies into Mercedes-Benz vehicles and business processes, the group's head of open innovation said Wednesday.
"In terms of numbers, we feel Korean startups are underrepresented in working with Daimler Group," Daimler AG Head of Open Innovation Philipp Gneiting said on the sidelines of a hackathon event held by Mercedes-Benz Korea in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.
"This is why we are holding a hackathon event, because we believe there is so much potential in Korean startups and we should pay much more attention on them. We are looking very forward to have something out of them."
According to Gneiting, Daimler and Mercedes-Benz have carried out more than 100 pilot projects with startups across the world since 2017, and more than 15 projects were actually implemented for Mercedes-Benz products, services and business processes. However, no Korean startup was involved in the program so far.
"We are really interested in engaging in startups in Korea in the fields of mobility, entertainment, automobile sensors," Gneiting said, who was one of the judges of the hackathon event.
During the event, nine startups which passed a 40-company preliminary round showcased their technologies on electric scooters, electric vehicle charging, vehicle safety and in-vehicle user experience, utilizing the application programming interface of the Mercedes-Benz User Experience cockpit infotainment system. The firms were the Swing, WILWIA, Soft Berry, School Bus, Wearobo, In The Hands, Cochlear AI, CHARZIN and 12CM.
The winner of the event, who will be announced on Friday, will be provided with a commercialization fund worth 200 million won ($167,520) from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.
Drawing more interest from startups was, however, the opportunity to become a Mercedes-Benz supplier, as the automaker said it may apply their technologies to its services after reviewing the customer benefit, technical feasibility and potential commercialization.
"We see ourselves as a venture client, we want to give startups a chance to become a valuable supplier for Mercedes-Benz in the first place. If their innovation is very helpful for us, then as a second step we decide whether it is interesting or useful for invest," said Gneiting, adding the company's "offer" will be a very promising reference for startups.
One of the model case startups Gneiting mentioned was What3words, which is a U.K.-based startup that came up with a geocode system for the communication of locations. Mercedes-Benz plans to apply the system to its car navigation in the near future.
The event was held at EQ Future Pavilion, which Mercedes-Benz Korea opened in October to exhibit its strategies and vision for future mobility.
"The event was held to encourage startups to produce new ideas to lead our future, and its venue of EQ Future pavilion holds additional significance because the pavilion has been arranged to present Mercedes-Benz's strategy and vision for future mobility," Mercedes-Benz Korea CEO Dimitris Psillakis said. "We are looking forward to the participating in the startup teams' healthy competition and passion so that the startup ecosystem can be vitalized."
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