# Kia Motors

> Kia Motors is a VC fund in Seoul backing Automotive and Transportation. See 38 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Seoul, South Korea
- Total investments: 38
- Last investment: Apr 2026
- Lead investor: 47%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kia-motors-corporation/
- X (Twitter): http://twitter.com/Kia_Motors
- Website: http://www.kia.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kiamotorsworldwide

Kia Motors is a manufacturer of quality motor vehicles that is commits to surpass customer expectations. The company was founded in 1944 as Korea’s first manufacturer of motor vehicles.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for Kia Motors. Shizune tracks 10 team members at Kia Motors. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/kia-motors?utm_source=investor_profile

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Seed | $1.5M–$3.4M |
| Grant | $1.5M–$1.5M |
| Corporate Round | $3.7M–$783M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Automotive | 10 | 26% |
| Transportation | 7 | 18% |
| Electric Vehicle | 7 | 18% |
| Software | 6 | 16% |
| Non Profit | 6 | 16% |

72 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Corporate Round | 9 | 24% |
| Grant | 6 | 16% |
| Seed | 3 | 8% |
| Series A | 3 | 8% |
| Series B | 3 | 8% |

12 stages tracked in total.

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| United States | 14 | 37% |
| South Korea | 12 | 32% |
| India | 2 | 5% |
| United Kingdom | 2 | 5% |
| Chile | 1 | 3% |

8 countries tracked in total.

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Karim Habib | Head of Design Center | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/karim-habib |
| Artur Martins | VP of Global Brand & Marketing Sub-Division | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/artur-martins |
| Brian Dennis | Owner | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/brian-dennis-082b |
| Gwang Gu Lee | CEO | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/gwang-gu-lee |
| Hoo Kim | President | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/hoo-kim-gon |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Upstage | Upstage AI develops artificial intelligence technologies focused on large language models and document processing systems designed to support enterprise workflows. Its platform includes tools that convert unstructured data such as PDFs, scans, and emails into structured, machine-readable formats, enabling downstream analysis and automation. Thecompany also provides models like its Solar LLM, which are optimized for tasks such as text generation, information extraction, and question answering within business environments. Its solutions are applied across industries including finance, healthcare, insurance, and manufacturing to handle tasks like document parsing, data extraction, and workflow automation. Additionally, its services can be deployed through APIs, cloud environments, or on-premise systems to integrate with existing enterprise infrastructure. | $121.7M | Series C | Apr 15, 2026 |  |
| Qnovo | Qnovo is redefining the foundation of mobility and technology for a more resilient and mobile future—the lithium-ion battery. Since 2010, Qnovo has enabled the electrification revolution with its intelligent battery management software and predictive analytics that improves the performance of electric vehicles, energy storage systems, and consumerdevices with enhanced health and safety. Qnovo is working with the world’s top automotive OEMs, holds over 50 patents in the space, and the first generation of Qnovo technology is on more than 150 million smartphones worldwide. The company is headquartered in Milpitas, California. Its investors include BorgWarner, OGCI Climate Investments, Constellation Technology Ventures, BlueRun Ventures, U.S. Venture Partners and RockPort Capital. Visit www.qnovo.com. |  | Corporate Round | Mar 03, 2026 |  |
| VisIC Technologies | VisIC Technologies is an automotive GaN product providing previously unseen levels of performance in its focused product portfolio. | $26M | Corporate Round | Dec 10, 2025 |  |
| St Jude Children’s Research Hospital | St. Jude Children's Research Hospital® was founded in 1962 by philanthropist and performer Danny Thomas. It is the first and only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center dedicated solely to children. Since its opening, St. Jude has strived to advance cures for children with cancer and other catastrophic diseasesthrough research and treatment. As one of the largest pediatric oncology centers in the world, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has treated children from all 50 states and around the world. Today, St. Jude has one of the world's leading pediatric brain tumor programs, as well as one of the largest bone marrow transplant and sickle cell disease programs in the United States. Headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, St. Jude has eight affiliate clinics across the United States. The hospital also shares its breakthroughs with resources like St. Jude Cure4Kids and St. Jude Cloud, which enable doctors and scientists across the globe to access St. Jude findings, helping them save even more lives.Aligned with Danny Thomas’ vision, St. Jude is committed to ensuring no child is denied treatment based on race, religion, or financial standing. This is largely made possible by the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities® (ALSAC®), the hospital’s awareness and fundraising organization. ALSAC focuses on connecting with donors and spreading awareness about the organization while St. Jude focuses on improving survival rates through innovative, cutting-edge research and technology. Major goals of this research include understanding the molecular, genetic and chemical bases of catastrophic diseases in children, as well as finding new life-saving treatments and methods of prevention for said diseases.To learn more about St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and its lifesaving mission, visit https://www.stjude.org. | $1.5M | Grant | May 12, 2025 |  |
| American Red Cross | The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and education inside the United States. It is the designated U.S. affiliate of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.It is the largest single supplier ofblood and blood products in the United States, collecting and processing approximately 40 percent of the blood supply and distributing it to about 2,600 hospitals and transfusion centers nationwide.The organization researches and tests to protect the safety of the blood supply. It was among the first to develop and implement testing for many infectious diseases including, HIV, hepatitis B and C viruses, West Nile virus, and Chagas disease.The ARC operates the nationwide hemovigilance program to examine donor and patient adverse reactions. Data from the program is used to enhance blood product quality and safetyThe ARC serves on key committees of AABB and other blood-related organizations, and works closely with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).The American Red Cross was established in 1881 and is headquartered in Washington, District of Columbia with 39 immunohematology reference laboratories nationwide. |  | Grant | May 12, 2025 |  |
| Toys for Tots | Toys for Tots is a non-profit organization that offers unwrapped toys and distributes them to economically disadvantaged children. |  | Grant | May 12, 2025 |  |
| No Kid Hungry | No Kid Hungry Help alleviate child hunger in America. Your donation helps Share Their Strength recruit summer meals sites, start and improve school breakfast programs, and teach families how to shop for and prepare healthy meals on a budget. It also helps provide grants to the most innovative hunger-fighting organizations across the country so thatthey can purchase food and supplies. They are seeing incredible results from these investments - in many places, just $1 can help a child access 10 meals. | $1.5M | Grant | May 12, 2025 |  |
| Operation Homefront | Operation Homefront provides programs and services that support military service members, veterans, and their families with financial relief, housing assistance, and recurring family support. It offers critical financial assistance to help with urgent expenses such as rent, utilities, food, and other essentials, and it facilitates housingsolutions, including transitional homes and mortgage-free homes paired with counseling. The organization also runs recurring support initiatives like school supply distributions, holiday meal assistance, and family events designed to strengthen social and emotional well-being. Operation Homefront connects families with resources to navigate short-term challenges so they can maintain stability and work toward long-term security. |  | Grant | May 12, 2025 |  |
| Covenant House | Covenant House provides homeless youth with 24/7 crisis care and ongoing support. The doors of the organization are open to all young people in need, regardless of their race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression. Their services are based on trauma-informed principles, and they provide a holistic approach to youngpeople who want to leave the streets. |  | Grant | May 12, 2025 |  |
| Pajarito Powder | Pajarito Powder, a U.S. based, venture-backed company, developed and manufactures advanced catalysts and Engineered Catalyst Supports for the rigorous power density requirements of Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEV). Other products include Engineered Electrolyzer Catalysts (EEC) and Precious Metal Free (PMF) catalysts for next generationapplications that require the lowest possible price-per-kW with reliable stability. The Pajarito Powder team brings decades of first-class catalyst development and manufacturing experience to support the company mission: to provide high-performance, affordable catalyst technology.Supported by a comprehensive portfolio of both internally developed and externally licensed intellectual property, Pajarito Powder has created a manufacturing platform designed to provide contemporary solutions for the automotive industry, as well as long-term catalyst innovation into the future. |  | Corporate Round | Apr 01, 2025 |  |

10 of 38 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Hyundai Motor Company](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/hyundai-motor-company) — VC Fund, 21 deals together
- [Hyundai Motor Group](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/hyundai-motor-group) — VC Fund, 5 deals together
- [Eclipse](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/eclipse-ventures) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Fidelity Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/fidelity-ventures) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [LG Electronics](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/lg) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Maverick Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/maverick-capital-6d16) — VC Fund, 2 deals together

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## FAQ

### What does Kia Motors invest in?

Kia Motors invests primarily in Automotive, Transportation and Electric Vehicle startups, most often at Corporate Round and Grant stage. Most of the 38 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is Kia Motors's check size?

Kia Motors typically joins rounds of $1.5M–$3.4M at Seed, $1.5M–$1.5M at Grant and $3.7M–$783M at Corporate Round. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Kia Motors participates in.

### How do I contact Kia Motors?

Public channels for Kia Motors include LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.

### Who are the partners at Kia Motors?

The team at Kia Motors includes Karim Habib (Head of Design Center), Artur Martins (VP of Global Brand & Marketing Sub-Division) and Brian Dennis (Owner), among 10 team members tracked by Shizune. The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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