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[StartupRecipe] Robotics Startups Are Raking In Big Money

#Weekly Funding Overview

[Dec. 5 ~ Dec. 9]

The total funds raised by Korean startups of this week is KRW 110 billion.

CompanyInudustryAmountRoundInvestors
senior worldSilver care-M&ACarenation
STAR PICKERSMobility-SeedCNTTech
Akros TechnologiesFintech3 billionZVC
infominingHealthcare5.5 billionSeries AE& Investment, Magna Investment, We Ventures
Value of spaceProphtech5.5 billionSeries ASBI Investment, Korea Investment Partners, Woomi global, Finda
TessaFintech-Kyobo Securities
MystericoData Analysis-Primer Sazze Partners
Eruda marketingMedia commerce3.5 billiononventure
VillageBabyKids platform7 billionSeries ASamsung Venture Investment, ZVC, Flux Ventures-Mirae Asset Venture Investment Consortium, Digital Healthcare Partners, Big Basin Capital, Hyundai Marine & Marine Insurance
Pay Crux CompanyRetail tech-M&AV.D Company
MrmentionAccomodation2 billionCoolidge Corner Investment, K-Bridge Investment
PaywatchFintech13 billionPre-Series AThire Prime, Vanderbilt Univ, Hana Ventures, University of Illinois Foundation
TwelvelabsAI16 billionSeedRadical Ventures, index Ventures, Wndrco Ventures, Spring Ventures
ImagoworksDigital Healthcare3.5 billionSeries ABNH Investment, Intervest, KB Investment, Company K Partners
MedifoodplatformHealthcare-Pre-Series APharmaresearch
ZictokBlockchain-W-KON
CorcaaiAI-Igaworks
JecleanBed care-Pre-Series ASeoul Techno Holdings
Bunker KidsHealthcare3 billionSeries AKakao Ventures, Rising S Ventures, Spring Camp
TripbtozTravel5 billionGIANTSTEP
KaviarFood11 billionSeries BStonebridge Ventures, GS Retail, Danal, Woori Bank, Tyche Investment
PleisureSports-SeedCNTTech
BodyworksSports2.3 billion
Meraki PlaceHealthcare6.2 billionPre-Series AKB Investment, Laguna Investment, Cowell Investment, Tail, Goodwater Capital, Spring Camp, Fast Ventures, Bass Investment

Major Funding

  • Restaurant startup GFFG has secured its first institutional investment of KRW 30 billion. It runs nine food service brands, including Cafe Knotted and a burger joint Downtowner.
  • Kaviar, a platform for curating gourmet food, has raised KRW 11 billion. It productizes famous restaurants’ trademark dishes as HMR goods.
  • Twelve Labs, an AI-powered video search platform, has received a further KRW 16 billion in investment from local and international investors, completing its seed funding round of KRW 22 billion. Its service allows you to find specific scenes in the video with natural language queries.

#Trend Analysis

Robotics Startups Are Raking In Big Money 

While B2C online platforms have dominated the investment scene for the past few years, B2B manufacturing startups are now drawing significant funding. Startups in the robot industry, in particular, are receiving large-scale investments. According to the Startup Recipe, investors’ favorite robotics startups this year were service robots for logistics and dining.

Bear Robotics has secured KRW 100 billion in funding, making it the most well-funded robotics startup of the year. The total funds raised exceed KRW 145 billion. Bear Robotics, a Silicon Valley-based company, manufactures self-driving serving robots that take the role of human servers in restaurants. It aims to become the first unicorn in the robot industry. VD Company has received its first external funding of KRW 9.9 billion with serving robots. It has expanded the business by offering automation solutions for restaurants, with a focus on serving robots that can be found in VIPS and Ashley Queens. Another serving robotics startup, RGT, has garnered strategic investment from Barogo and NICE Group this year after raising KRW 4 billion last year. 

A large amount of money has been flowing into robot delivery startups. Neubility, a company that develops urban self-driving robots, has secured KRW 23 billion and is making outdoor delivery robots. The company reduced the costs by applying a camera-based autonomous driving solution. With 7-Eleven, it is currently testing robot deliveries of convenience store goods in the Bangbae neighborhood.

Some startups make various service robots for our daily lives. XYZ produces robot arms for unmanned stores that can make coffee and ice cream. It recently acquired Cobot, an autonomous robotics startup, and broadened its scope from unmanned stores to unmanned deliveries. Robo Arte automates the entire chicken cooking process with a collaborative robot arm and makes 50 fried chickens per hour.

Robotics and solutions for the logistics sector caught the attention of investors as well.

Within its first year of operation, Floatic, which introduced logistics automation robots, has attracted strategic investment of KRW 3.4 billion from major enterprises. Its robots are used in e-commerce logistics centers to automate order-picking tasks. Daim Research also designs logistics robot systems, provides solutions, and supports the automation of logistics environments. Additionally, Clobot offers B2B companies robot solutions. It implements robot-specific services while taking the robot’s hardware and the actual operating environment into account. THiRA Robotics has self-driving robot technology and develops both robots and software. 

The government plans to form an alliance with companies such as LG Electronics and KT to invigorate the self-driving robot market while fostering talent to boost the K robot industry. Nevertheless, there are several obstacles that prohibit the business from growing, such as laws governing the use of cooperative robots in the field and outdoor self-driving. It is necessary to amend the law in order to improve the environment.

Company NameCompany DescriptionInvestment AmountInvestment RoundInvestors
Bear RoboticsSelf-driving Serving RobotKRW 100 BillionSeries BIMM Private Equity, Cleveland Avenue, KT, SmileGate Investment, DSC Investment
NeubilitySelf-driving Robot DeliveryKRW 23 BillionSeries AIMM Investment, Signite Partners, Lotte Ventures, Samsung Welstory, DS&Partners, KB Investment, 42dot, SKT-Infinitum Fund, Capstone Partners, FuturePlay, Shinhan Capital 
XYZService Robotics StartupKRW 10 BillionSeries AMagna Investment, Korea Investment Partners, Hyundai Motor Group ZER01NE, Bilanx Investment, Samsung Venture Investment, Humax
VD CompanyServing RobotKRW 9.9 BillionHana Ventures
ClobotSelf-driving RobotKRW 9.5 BillionSeries BPremier Partners, Shinhan Venture Investment, L&S Venture Capital, Hyundai Motor Group ZER01NE, Honest Ventures
Robo ArteRobotics StartupKRW 7.5 BillionSeries AKorea Investment Partners, GS Retail, Industrial Bank of Korea, SmartStudy Ventures, Mega Investment, Korea Credit Guarantee Fund
THiRA RoboticsSelf-driving RobotKRW 5.5 BillionPre-Series AKiwoom New Hero No.2 Technology Innovation Fund., E&Venture Smart Investment Fund No.3
Aidin RoboticsRobot SolutionKRW 4.5 BillionSeries ADSC Investment, BNK Venture Capital, Kolon Investment, FuturePlay
FloaticRobotics for Logistics AutomationKRW 3.4 BillionPre-Series ABe High Investment, Hyundai Motor Group ZER01NE, Korea Development Bank, Industrial Bank of Korea, Naver D2SF
ABLE LabsAutomated Robots for Bio ExperimentsKRW 3 BillionPre-Series AMirae Asset Venture Investment, FuturePlay
Daim ResearchManufacturing & Logistics Automation SolutionKRW 2 BillionPre-Series ANaver D2SF, Company K Partners, Stonebridge Ventures, KITEEF
Reset CompanySolar Panel Unmanned Cleaning RobotKRW 1.3 BillionPre-Series ASeries Ventures, CCEI Gyeongnam, Lighthouse Combined Investment, Hana Financial Group, Korea Social Investment Foundation
SafeticsSafety Analytics Solution for Collaborative RobotsKRW 1.1 BillionPre-Series ABig Basin Capital
Robotics startups raised funding this year

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