While the startup winter continues, many companies are enduring this cold wave and diligently building a future vision. How are they doing it? Let’s hear from Jaekwang Kim, CEO of Vueron Technology.
What’s the secret to surviving the startup winter?
As the startup investment market becomes more challenging, we operate the company with two main strategies.
First, we focus on maximizing competitiveness in our existing business areas. Strengthening the core business is essential to the company’s growth, and we’ve created a roadmap to grow as a leading player. As a deep-tech company, we’ve been working to elevate our technology to a level that competitors can’t match, with a focus on market and customer needs.
Specifically, in the mass production of LiDAR for ADAS, we considered how to highlight Vueron’s strength in lightweight algorithms. We showcased a vehicle demo using a mass-production-ready chip, demonstrating not only performance but also scalability. This approach has received positive feedback from clients, evolving our relationship with them into collaborative projects involving mass-production systems.
Second, we don’t overlook areas where quick application and profitability are possible. In simpler terms, we target areas that can immediately implement our technology and solutions in the market. For example, as the need for preventing crowd-related accidents in congested environments grew, we launched the Smart Crowd Analytics (SCA) LiDAR-based congestion analysis solution. We quickly partnered with Jongno District in Seoul to test its applicability, verifying both the technology’s marketability and excellence.
Following the successful verification, we expanded the project to other municipalities, creating a revenue-generating structure. We are now working on extending similar technology to manage queues at airports. In summary, the key to surviving the tough investment market is to quickly penetrate market needs with our technology and generate revenue.
What are your thoughts on the startup winter?
Although the startup investment market is tough, we must remember that the market itself hasn’t disappeared. This is the time to focus on our target markets and arm ourselves with unique advantages.
By understanding the market’s needs and aligning our strengths with those demands, companies can stand out. I believe that this challenging period could actually be an opportunity for startups with competitive advantages to gain greater market share.
What is Vueron Technology?
Vueron Technology develops and supplies perception solutions for LiDAR, a critical sensor used in autonomous driving. As LiDAR is being applied across various industries, Vueron is working to promote the widespread adoption of LiDAR solutions across sectors.
We focus on two main products. The first is VueOne, a LiDAR perception solution for ADAS and autonomous driving. VueOne stands out for its scalability, offering high performance on mass-production chips for vehicles. Based on these advantages, we are working on mass-production projects with several automakers and parts suppliers.
The second product is VueTwo, which provides diverse perception solutions using infrastructure. It’s an ITS (Intelligent Transport System) solution that accurately detects traffic volume and speed at intersections and highways in real-time. Our recently launched LiDAR-based crowd management solution can prevent large-scale accidents related to crowds and provide accurate population data for the development of true smart cities.
Vueron received seed funding from Naver’s startup accelerator D2 Startup Factory (D2SF) and raised 10 billion KRW in pre-Series A funding within two years of its founding. The investment came from Daesung Startup Investment, HGI, KDB Bank, Timefolio, Intervalue, and BonAngels Venture Partners.
Source: Economic Review(https://www.econovill.com)
