Robotics Startups in Korea at the Forefront of Innovation

Will robots replace the human workforce? It seems inevitable as they are becoming increasingly prevalent in almost every industry. They can be found in manufacturing, education, and even healthcare. This is thanks to the advancement in engineering, science, and AI, which have helped produce innovative robotics that is changing how we work and live. The robotics industry in South Korea is growing at a rapid pace. Robotics startups in Korea are now getting attention from not just the VC sector but also the corporate sector like never before. Robotics and robotic technology offer industries reductions in operating costs, increase productivity, and improve products/services. Here are some of the top Robotics startups in Korea to watch for.

Top Robotics Startups in Korea

Bear Robotics

One of the most successful robotics startups in Korea is Bear Robotics. They provide food-serving robots called Servi, which can be found in South Korea, Japan, and the United States. It uses LiDAR sensors and 3D cameras to detect its surroundings and deliver the service items to the table through autonomous driving. Now, they are providing a newer robot they developed with one of Korea’s top telecom giants KT Corp. Moreover, they raised $81 million for their series B round from IMM Private Equity, KT Investment, Smilegate Investment, and DSC Investment.

ANGEL ROBOTICS

Angel Robotics is a robotics startup in Korea that develops robots that help people who have difficulty walking on their own. In addition, they also create robots that can protect people from injuries in the workplace. Sensors are mounted on each joint. The wearable robot precisely monitors the wearer’s movement and measures the force transmitted from the ground to detect the wearer’s intention to move. Then an intelligent motion control algorithm calculates the required assistive power according to the detected motion intention. Furthermore, actuator control technology allows wearers to be assisted only when needed.

NEUBILITY

Neubility operates an on-demand delivery service with a cost-effective fleet of autonomous delivery robots. These robots offer a solution to even the worst pedestrian traffic. They secured a $20 million investment led by IMM Investment. In addition, they have been able to make strategic investment partnerships with Samsung, Lotte, Shinsaegae, and SK-Telecom.

RoboPrint

Korean robotics startup RoboPrint started in Daegu as a one-man banner printing business. It is now one of the top companies in Korea for painting the exterior walls of apartment buildings. They use a robot called Artbot to paint the walls of large buildings and apartments across South Korea. It is a far safer way to paint buildings than human painters. Therefore, it can print various images on high-rise buildings safely, quickly, and affordable way.

Robo Arete (Robert Chicken)

Korean robotics startup Robo Arete creates cooking robots for food companies and franchises. More specifically, fried chicken franchises. They operate Robert Chicken, a Korean fried chicken franchise. The benefits of having a robot cook chicken are that the fried chicken will have the same taste and quality every time it is cooked, regardless of the branch. Robo Arete has funding from Bluepoint Partners, Naver, and VC firm We Ventures. It is a unique franchise that only requires a single person. Therefore, they take the orders and package the food while the robot takes care of the cooking. It can cook up to 50 chickens an hour.

A Korean industrial robot manufacturer supplies the robot hardware. However, Robo Arete provides the program for the robot arm to function. Therefore, they focus mainly on software to ensure the robot can cook each batch simultaneously.

NAU Robotics

NAU Robotics is a robotics startup that builds industrial robots and smart factories. They develop and support various robot automation systems in manufacturing sites, including plastic injection. They launched in 2016 and have since provided process automation solutions in various fields through partnerships with domestic and global robotics companies. Moreover, some of their top robots include:

• NURO – NC-Type Handling Orthogonal Robot
• NURO X – 6-axis multi-joint take-out robot for plastic injection machine
• NUCA – Scara robot with high speed and optimal performance

Roborus

Korean Robotics AI startup Roborus uses AI and machine learning technology for facial recognition to enhance customer experiences at retail stores, restaurants, coffee shops, and hotels. Roborus creates robots and kiosks that use AI and facial recognition to store data and identify customers. In addition, they use machine learning to understand their customer better and offer personalized recommendations. Their two main products are Tune and Poca. Tune is a facial recognition system, and Poca is a smart ordering system robot that can recognize customers and take their orders. The exciting aspect of Poca is that it can detect customers’ emotions and react to them.

Roborus has already formed a partnership with 7-Eleven and is looking to partner with other retail stores. They also signed an MOU with I-ON Communications, a leading sports data software provider for amateur and youth sports in Korea. They will look to work on future IT projects related to the sports tech sector. Furthermore, they are looking to partner with restaurants and coffee shops because Roborus can provide quicker service with higher customer satisfaction.

Twinny

Twinny creates a wide range of mobile robots that help businesses with logistics. It uses autonomous navigation software for its mobile robots, which also use indoor positioning. In addition, Twinny has also developed a project management and collaboration tool called MoiGo. However, their main product is their autonomous driving robots which use depth cameras to maneuver around complex environments like warehouses and offices. They aim to increase working efficiency at logistics centers and factories.

Beyond Honeycomb

Beyond Honeycomb is one of the few Korean robotics startups focusing on food. It uses AI technology to recreate world-class dishes from famous chefs. Using sensors, the AI robot chef learns through a single demonstration. These robots are compatible with commercial kitchen appliances like ovens and broilers. Chefs can earn money by registering their recipes on the Beyond Honeycomb platform. Beyond Honeycomb targets commercial kitchens and showcased their AI-Chef at CES 2022 in Las Vegas.