Korean startup accelerator Future Play has entered a joint partnership with HL Mando Co. Ltd, a company specializing in electric vehicle (EV) and autonomous driving solutions, to host the 5^th season of their annual startup investment and fostering program, HL Mando Mobility Tech-Up Plus. The program is aimed at discovering promising startups in the field of future mobility, and this year’s selection area has been expanded to include eco-friendly technology, artificial intelligence (AI), and energy technology startups.

Selected startups will receive an initial investment of between 50 million won and 100 million won from Future Play, as well as mentoring and intellectual property (IP) development support over a period of around five months. The completed teams will then showcase their technology at a demo day event, where HL Mando will select excellent teams for further investment of more than 100 million won.

Future Play will plan and operate the program, select and nurture startups, and develop patents, while HL Mando will provide the necessary budget for program operation, employee mentoring, in-house infrastructure, and follow-up investment. The recruitment process consists of document evaluation, presentation evaluation, and in-depth evaluation, and interested startups can apply through the official website of HL Mando Mobility Tech-Up Plus Season 5 until May 14th.

Future Play has successfully led the HL Mando Tech-Up Plus program for the past five years, discovering a total of 14 innovative deep-tech startups in various fields, including mobility and robotics. Self-driving delivery robot startup Newbility, one of the startups fostered by Future Play, has conducted a business item conception and pivot process with the program and is currently a startup that produces meaningful results in the market by cooperating with large companies in various industries.

With this expanded program, Future Play and HL Mando aim to discover and nurture promising startups that meet their strategic direction while supporting systematic growth. A more detailed introduction to the HL Mando Tech-Up Plus Season 5 program will be held at a joint briefing session with major universities in the future, with the date yet to be announced.