Connected-vehicle tech company Autotalks scores a reported ‘several million dollar’ investment from Hyundai.

Photo: Hyundai media center.

In April we ran a story on Autotalks, an Israel-based semiconductor company focused on the vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications technology space, after they announced a collaboration with the Connected Motorcycle Consortium to enhance safety-related communication between motorcycles and other vehicles with which they share the roads.

Yesterday, Autotalks revealed that they have embarked on a major new collaboration—this time with a major global automaker. Through a direct investment in Autotalks, Hyundai Motor Company seeks to drive chipset technology for connected cars into its next generation.

For some background, V2X is an umbrella term for technologies that support not only communication among vehicles equipped with various autonomy- and safety-related features, but also communication between vehicles and highway infrastructure, with a focus on extending hazard and road-condition awareness capabilities beyond the line of sight.

In manned vehicles, V2X technologies provide as-needed alerts and notifications to drivers, with capability to actuate autonomous safety responses in emergency situations. Applications in fully autonomous vehicles focus on enhancing the information available to existing sensors, providing intelligent control systems with additional data that supports more informed decisions and better-coordinated interaction with other vehicles and the road infrastructure.

According to Hyundai’s official announcement, the collaboration is part of the automaker’s general effort to expand engagement with autonomous driving and smart city technologies.

“Connectivity is one of the core technologies that can be applied to smart city business models, as well as autonomous driving and infotainment,” said Yunseong Hwang, director of open innovation business group at Hyundai Motor Company. “Hyundai Motor will continue to invest in disruptive technologies that are in line with Hyundai’s current and future strategic pillars.”

“Having a top global car manufacturer such as Hyundai invest directly in Autotalks is not only a vote of confidence in the company, but a testament to the growing V2X market,” said Hagai Zyss, CEO of Autotalks. Hyundai’s pursuit of cutting-edge communication and safety technologies is a perfect match with Autotalks’ leading V2X capabilities. The funding from Hyundai will fuel Autotalks’ technology roadmap as well as support our customers and partners all over the globe.”

Although there has been no official disclosure of how much money Hyundai is dedicating to the collaboration with Autotalks, Reuters reported yesterday that an unnamed source in Israel said that it was an investment of “several million dollars.”

According to Markets and Markets, other major players in the V2X technology space include Continental AG, Qualcomm Inc., and Daimler AG. The research firm projects a market size of over US$2.8 billion by 2022.