LG Electronics (LGE), part of LG Group, the fourth largest chaebol in South Korea, has disbanded its corporate venture capital unit under Ray Schuder.
Schuder and Davorin Kuchan, who recently joined having previously run Texas Instruments’ corporate venture and innovation unit before setting up an advisory service and running a startup, are expected to leave LGE at the end of March.
Instead, LGE is understood to have tasked its new incubator, LG Nova, with some of the CVC unit’s functions.
One insider said: “LG Electronics CVC team (part of CTO [chief technology officer]) has been disbanded and some of its function has been picked up by LG Nova (part of CSO [chief strategy officer]).”
LG Nova’s program under Sokwoo Rhee offers startups an “investment of up to $2m and a large commercial deal with LG”.
LGE had hired Schuder as managing director of corporate venture capital in 2019, to join then-leaders Henry Chung and Robert Cha (now both at car company Hyundai’s Cradle innovation unit in Silicon Valley).
LGE’s deals had included Washlava, a US-based mobile internet-of-things technology developer, and US-headquartered automotive software developer Sonatus.
However, LGE and other subsidiaries of the chaebol has also committed to the LG Tech Ventures unit run by Dong-Su Kim, which has been unaffected by the changes, insiders said.
LG Technology Ventures was set up in Silicon Valley in 2018 and now manages $425m from LGE, LG Display and LG Chem to invest directly in artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and autonomous driving and externally through commitments to third-party funds, such as an advanced materials fund run by Phoenix Venture Partners.
LG Chem, the chaebol’s chemicals company, is launching its first Global Innovation Challenge and inviting startups working on circular plastics, carbon utilisation, renewable hydrogen and sustainable batteries to apply to the programme.
