# Ilsu Park

> Ilsu Park is the co-founder and CEO of Mars Auto, a Seoul-based startup building camera-based, map-free self-driving software for heavy trucks. A KAIST computer science graduate and self-taught deep-learning engineer, he started with a hobby project that used a driving-game simulator to train a neural network, then turned that idea into a company that runs paid autonomous freight in Korea and the United States. Mars Auto takes a Tesla-style vision-first approach, skipping LiDAR and HD maps to cut the cost of automating a Class 8 truck to roughly $7,000 per unit. Park has raised about $12 million, graduated from Y Combinator, and made the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list. He is targeting fully driverless long-haul freight by 2028.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and CEO at Mars Auto
- **Organizations:** Mars Auto
- **From:** South Korea
- **Nationality:** South Korean
- **Education:** B.S., Computer Science, KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology)
- **Known for:** Co-founded and leads Mars Auto, one of Korea's most closely watched autonomous-driving startups., Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia (2021)., Graduated from Y Combinator (2019).

## Career timeline

- **2016** — Built europilot, an open-source toolkit that trains an end-to-end driving model inside Euro Truck Simulator 2 (1.5k GitHub stars).
- **2017** — Co-founded Mars Auto with fellow KAIST computer science alum Gyuri Im.
- **2019** — Mars Auto goes through Y Combinator's 2019 batch; backed by Kakao Ventures and others.
- **2021** — Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia (Industry, Manufacturing & Energy).
- **2022** — Raised a Series A; total funding reaches roughly $12.5 million.
- **2023** — Begins commercial autonomous freight operations in Korea under a regulatory sandbox; first in Korea approved for Level 3 self-driving trucks on highways.
- **2024** — Launches paid US operations with a base in Round Rock, Texas, targeting the Texas Triangle freight corridor.
- **2026** — Secures a mobility demonstration exemption and passes Korea Transportation Safety Authority evaluation; prepares Korea's first paid autonomous trailer transport at Busan Port.

## Achievements

- Co-founded and leads Mars Auto, one of Korea's most closely watched autonomous-driving startups.
- Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia (2021).
- Graduated from Y Combinator (2019).
- First company in Korea approved to run Level 3 self-driving trucks on highways.
- Accumulated about 20 million km of real truck-driving data and 2.5 million km of autonomous driving.
- Drove the cost of automating a Class 8 truck down to roughly $7,000 per unit using a camera-only stack.
- Author of europilot, an open-source self-driving toolkit with ~1.5k GitHub stars.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — Mars Auto prepares to launch Korea's first paid autonomous trailer transport, with three clients secured on routes to and from Busan Port.
- **2026-05** — Mars Auto expands its US self-driving truck business with support from Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
- **2026-01** — Reaffirms plan to release camera-based self-driving software for heavy trucks and reach full driverless operation by 2028.

## Links

- Website: https://marsauto.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daftshady/
- GitHub: https://github.com/daftshady

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/ilsu-park
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-17