We recently announced our Series C financing and the inclusion of a new venture investor— Solasta Ventures. We are proud to have them as part of our team as we head into our growth phase and expansion into new markets.
Solasta is the US investment arm of AJU IB Investment, one of the oldest and largest venture capital firms in South Korea. The US offices in Boston and San Francisco are focused on building a network of market leaders and working with mid-growth startups across a wide variety of industries that are looking to expand at a global level.
Michael Jeon, a partner at Solasta, opened the San Francisco office for Solasta Ventures in January 2019, after the company was ready to expand its existing US operations and increase its focus across the broader IT sector. He brought over 18 years of experience across diverse industries, both in venture capital, startup operations, and large corporations. His investment career began with Samsung Ventures, where he eventually became the founding head of Samsung Ventures Europe, before leading business operations at MindMeld, a conversational AI company acquired by Cisco Systems.
As Jeon explains, “My varied background has helped me recognize unique industry value when I see it, which is a big part of what drove our interest in Ridecell. Mobility is an important part of our investment strategy at Solasta, and the Ridecell platform offers a compelling solution for the rapidly changing mobility industry.”
Solasta’s investment in Ridecell is a recognition that digitization and machine learning on big data across industries is delivering a massive net benefit to people all around the world. In the automotive space, in particular, the pandemic has accelerated an already shifting tide toward digital transformation. This shift is bringing with it better coordination among the supply chain while helping to mitigate human error and eliminate waste in everything from capital costs, to goods and services, to time spent.
“Ridecell is a clear leader in this space,” said Jeon. “The company already has an impressive network of top tier customers and partners with some of the largest companies in the world. Ridecell’s proprietary technology enables digitization across a wide area of mobility and fleet management, helping customer organizations increase their utilization of assets, rapidly adopt new business models, reign in inefficiencies, and minimize costs.”
“Solasta is a fantastic partner to have, especially as we manage growth in new regions around the world,” said Aarjav Trivedi, CEO, and Founder, Ridecell. “We’re excited to leverage their unique industry relationships in the automotive ecosystem in South Korea and to learn from their experience helping other companies expand operations into new markets.”
Author: Diptii Tiiku, Senior Director of Marketing, Ridecell