Stick Ventures and GS Retail Invest in Robros, Operator of Better Than Yours in Seongsu
Stick Ventures, Primer Saje Partners, and GS Retail invested in service robot startup Robros, which operates the unmanned robot cafe Better Than Yours in Seongsu, Seoul, as a testbed for service robot commercialization.
On the 21st, Robros said it raised a total of 1.6 billion won in its seed round. The round was led by Stick Ventures, with participation from US-based Korean VC Primer Saje Partners in Silicon Valley and GS Retail.
The seed round size was unusually large for the industry, where seed rounds are typically tens of millions to 100 to 200 million won. Even large rounds are around 500 million won. This was Robros' first institutional investment.
Founded in 2020, Robros develops robots specialized for service fields. Its goal is to build service robots that are safe and efficient enough to work in shared spaces with people.
Robros' core strength is robot control technology, including compliance-based torque control for safety in collisions, reinforcement learning based simulation, and hand manipulation for irregular objects.
The strength comes from a strong team. CEO Noh Seungjun is a UCLA graduate with startup experience in the US. CTO Park Hyunjoon earned a PhD in robotics at Seoul National University and has won the Presidential Prize 12 times at robot conferences and competitions.
CDO Kim Jinyoung earned a master's from the Royal College of Art in the UK and is a UX design expert who taught at Kyung Hee University for 10 years and led projects with Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics.
Robros also includes researchers with robotics backgrounds and service managers with more than 10 years of experience at Starbucks.
Robros opened the Better Than Yours cafe in Seongsu-dong this year as a testbed. Two robots collaborate quickly by dividing roles, and they perform dance-like motions when idle to attract customers. The cafe operates 24 hours without staff.
Robros plans to use this funding to accelerate safe service robot technology and expand its product lineup beyond F&B into home care and medical services. The company also aims for global expansion.
Nam Changmo of Stick Ventures said he decided to invest after seeing Robros' strong team and field-based R&D, and expects the company to grow by meeting service robot demand across multiple fields.
Primer Saje Partners said Robros could achieve notable results in F&B service robots and grow into a global robotics company.
CEO Noh said the company will research, develop, and commercialize service robots based on rigorous analysis of field needs, and hopes Robros robots will provide better service than humans and change the service industry paradigm.