READi Robust Machine, a South Korean hardware startup based in Busan developing energy-recovery systems for heavy construction equipment, has closed a Series B round of KRW 13.4 billion. The round brings the company’s cumulative funding since its 2022 founding to KRW 22.9 billion.
Roughly 30 venture capital firms competed to participate in the round, according to the company. Quantum Ventures Korea, which led the company’s Series A, returned as lead investor again, with the deal overseen by director Yoo Jong-hyun. The Korea Development Bank (KDB) and U.S. VC Strong Ventures joined as follow-on investors, while Samchully Investment, Ubiquoss Investment, Kayryun Ventures, and SGC Investment came aboard as new backers.
READi Robust Machine is a Korean company that develops technology to recover hydraulic energy otherwise wasted during excavator operation — such as when a boom arm is raised and lowered, converting potential energy into heat — and reuses it to cut fuel consumption in diesel-powered equipment. Its flagship product, READi X, has been deployed at Hyundai Steel’s Incheon and Dangjin plants, where it delivered fuel-efficiency gains of up to 36% on a 30-ton excavator and 19.4% on a 50-ton excavator — reportedly the first and largest-scale case of an energy-recovery solution applied to a heavy excavator in that class. In Japan, the system has also been installed on Sumitomo excavators through partner Shin-ei-sha, achieving average efficiency gains of over 16% and generating a steady stream of inbound inquiries from local customers.
The company has already outpaced its full-year 2025 revenue within the first half of 2026 and currently holds an order backlog exceeding KRW 2 billion — performance the firm says helped drive the competitive investor interest in this round. Notably, READi Robust Machine is headquartered in Busan with a factory and R&D center in Gimhae, making its fundraising success a rare example of a regional, deep-tech hardware startup competing for capital typically concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area.
Beyond hardware, the company has built what it calls a “Hardware-Enabled SaaS” (HES) model, extending its business from before-market installations on new equipment and after-market retrofits to software services built on data collected by its hardware.
READi Robust Machine will direct the new capital toward three priorities. First, it will build mass-production systems for its hydraulic hybrid “remastered” excavator solution READi X and its tractor-focused energy-recovery system READi T, while expanding a nationwide sales and customer-support network — critical given the retrofit business’s reliance on installation and maintenance infrastructure. Second, it will scale up its software services, rolling out a “Zero Downtime” offering that uses operational data to predict equipment failures and minimize work stoppages, extending predictive-maintenance technology proven on excavators to tractors, cranes, and other hydraulic equipment. Third, the company will accelerate overseas expansion, centered on its Nagoya-based subsidiary, READi Robust Machine Japan, building on validated performance with Sumitomo excavators.
The company also plans to launch a plug-in hybrid battery-powered large excavator by the end of the year, capable of more than 10 hours of continuous use on a single charge — extending its product line beyond retrofits into fully integrated hybrid construction equipment.
