Autonomous A2Z Selected for ‘Unicorn Bridge’… Accelerating Global Autonomous Driving Expansion
Autonomous driving company Autonomous A2Z (CEO Han Ji-hyung, hereinafter referred to as A2Z) announced on the 25th that it has been selected for the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ ‘Unicorn Bridge’ program.
The Unicorn Bridge program, newly established this year, is designed to identify companies with innovative achievements and growth potential and nurture them into globally competitive unicorn companies. Selected companies receive up to 1.6 billion KRW in government subsidies over two years and up to 20 billion KRW in special guarantees from the Korea Technology Finance Corporation, along with opportunities to attract overseas investment.
A2Z was selected for this program in recognition of its capabilities representing K-autonomous driving, including ranking 7th globally on the autonomous driving leaderboard published by global market research firm Guidehouse, deployment of autonomous vehicles at APEC 2025, and operating the largest fleet of autonomous vehicles in Korea with the longest cumulative mileage. Having previously been selected as a preliminary unicorn company by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in 2024, A2Z has now also secured a place in the Unicorn Bridge program, further demonstrating its potential.
A2Z is Korea’s only full-stack autonomous driving company, covering everything from autonomous driving software to vehicle manufacturing and control system development. It is currently conducting autonomous driving demonstration projects in 13 cities and provinces across Korea, and was recently selected to participate in the large-scale autonomous driving demonstration project in Gwangju Metropolitan City promoted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Its self-developed Level 4 autonomous shuttle ‘ROii’ is a purpose-built unmanned autonomous vehicle integrating the vehicle platform, autonomous driving system, and control technology. It has been deployed in demonstration projects nationwide, including Seoul and Ulsan, and surpassed 10,000 cumulative passengers last month.
The company is also expanding its business achievements in overseas markets. In Singapore, it is broadening its business scope through winning local government projects and collaborating with Grab, and it has established a local joint venture in the UAE as the first Korean company to do so. In Japan, it is participating in robotaxi demonstration projects, strengthening its global business foundation.
Through the Unicorn Bridge program, A2Z plans to accelerate the commercialization of autonomous driving based on ROii exports and strengthen its competitiveness through business expansion in Singapore and other initiatives.
