Korea’s indigenous FMS developer A.I.Matics raises $13.9 mn from local PEF

A.I.Matics Inc., a South Korean artificial intelligence-based fleet management system (FMS) developer spun off from Hyundai Motor Group, is gearing up for global expansion after successfully raising 16 billion won ($13.9 million) in funding from a local private equity firm.

Keistone Partners invested 16 billion won in A.I.Matics, becoming the second largest stakeholder of the FMS developer after Uniquest Corp. with a 40 percent stake, according to investment banking sources on Monday. The investor plans to improve the corporate value of A.I.Matics with an aim to list the firm in a few years, sources said.

A.I.Matics, established as an in-house startup of Hyundai Motor Group in 2003, has been supplying its proprietary camera sensor image recognition and processing solutions to finished carmakers at home and abroad. It went under Kospi-listed non-memory chip solution provider Uniquest in 2016 and has become a leading FMS developer in Korea.

With the latest investment, the company plans to go expand its presence in overseas markets.

In North America, the FMS market is growing fast with companies hoping to reduce the accident rate and fuel cost by analyzing drivers’ driving habits. Riding on the demand, the North American FMS market is estimated to reach 8.4 trillion won by 2023 from 6 trillion won in 2020, according to industry experts.

ⓒ Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, Park Chang-young and Lee Ha-yeon