Naver (035420.KS) has invested in global drone specialist UVify, the company announced Wednesday.
UVify specializes in drone swarm flight technology and autonomous flight platforms, and has grown by aggressively targeting overseas markets since its early days. The company recently became the first Korean drone firm to receive the "$10 Million Export Tower" award, and is the only Korean company serving on the board of the Dronecode Foundation, the global body that oversees PX4, a core operating system (OS) for the drone industry.
Through this investment, Naver plans to explore various synergies between its own technological capabilities in artificial intelligence (AI), cloud and digital twin, and UVify's drone hardware and operations technology. In particular, as "physical AI"—combining autonomous flight drones with AI—is drawing attention as a next-generation industry trend, new applications are expected to expand in the public and smart city sectors. The investment amount was not disclosed by mutual agreement between the two companies.
"As the potential for AI to extend into the real world grows through physical AI, autonomous driving and robotics, drones are also drawing attention as one of the important future technology areas," Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon said. "We expect that combining Naver's physical AI technology capabilities with UVify's drone technology will create new possibilities across various industries."
"With this investment as a catalyst, we will further advance UVify's swarm drone technology and fully implement physical AI solutions across various industrial sites, including the public and smart city sectors," UVify CEO Lim Hyon said.
