[THE INVESTOR] SoCar, Korea’s No. 1 car-sharing service operator, has made an investment in autonomous driving startup RideFlux, the company said on July 11.

RideFlux is a Korean startup founded by two self-driving technology experts Park Jung-hee Park and Yun Ho and advised by US autonomous technology startup nuTonomy founder Karl Iagnemma.

SoCar said this is the first investment and the partnership was made in a bid to become a total mobility company. 

Lee Jae-woong, CEO of SoCar and also founder of the country’s internet portal giant Daum Communications (now merged with Kakao), said the company founded in 2011 aims for mass adoption of self-driving technologies.

"The partnership between RideFlux and Socar with more than 10,000 cars in operation is well beyond the simple development of self-driving technology. It means we can provide the technology to masses," Lee said.

"With the advancement of autonomous driving technologies such as accident prevention and autonomous parking, we can provide innovative mobility services to SoCar users," Lee added.

The two companies did not disclose the amount of the deal.

By Park Ga-young (gypark@heraldcorp.com)