The robotics investment fever that began late last year has now spread to major corporations and small to mid-sized listed companies in South Korea.
On Thursday, industry sources reported that LG CNS, an LG Group subsidiary, has entered the industrial AI humanoid robot market. The company plans to partner with Skilled AI, a U.S. startup known for its advanced robotic brains, to offer an integrated AI humanoid robot service. LG CNS aims to expand its business into AI transformation (AX) beyond IT into physical industries like manufacturing and logistics. Following this announcement, the company’s stock price hit a record high of 81,600 KRW (approximately 59.41 USD) since its February listing.
Smaller and mid-sized listed companies are also actively pursuing new ventures in robotics. Y2 Solution, primarily an electric vehicle charging business, recently acquired HRT Robotics, a specialist in robot system integration. According to the company, HRT is the first official South Korean partner of Universal Robots, a global leader in collaborative robotics. The company designs and supplies robot automation solutions tailored to manufacturing environments.
HRT specializes in automation solutions, boasting expertise in control system integration, vision cameras, and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). The company is currently developing its own AMRs, leading industry experts to anticipate significant synergies with Y2 Solution.
SOS Lab, a lidar specialist, is reportedly close to finalizing a lidar supply contract with the world’s leading humanoid robotics company, sparking expectations of its reevaluation as a robotics firm.
CTT Research stated that SOS Lab has been conducting extensive internal tests to supply lidar for Company B, the world’s top humanoid robot company, ant that the supply deal is now believed to be confirmed. The research firm explained that SOS Lab’s compact lidar is considered superior in performance and can be embedded due to its compact design, unlike the competitor’s product.
CTT Research added that SOS Lab’s lidar will be installed in all of the Company B’s robots, including humanoids and quadrupeds. Contract details are currently being negotiated, with a final agreement expected as early as the end of June. CTT Research concluded that considering this deal following their supply to Hyundai’s robotics lab, it’s time to reassess SOS Lab as a robotics company, calling it the most undervalued among South Korean listed robotics firms.
Additionally, IT healthcare platform company CI Tech signed an MOU with autonomous robot specialist Clobot on June 13 to jointly develop autonomous robot solutions for smart hospitals and public institutions.
This partnership aims to combine the two companies’ core technologies – autonomous driving platforms and on-premise AI computing systems – to develop and commercialize hybrid AI robot solutions for hospitals, libraries, public institutions, and smart buildings. The companies plan to co-develop specialized solutions, including an AI guidance system integrating fixed kiosks and mobile robots, as well as book retrieval robots and hospital reception robots.
Meanwhile, securities analysts noted that the overall valuation for overseas humanoid robotics companies is on the rise, predicting that robotics will remain a key focus for listed companies this year.
An industry insider revealed that Figure AI’s valuation has skyrocketed 15-fold to 40 billion USD in its latest funding round, while Skilled AI and Unitree have seen increases of 2.7 and 1.9 times, respectively. They explained that with major Korean conglomerates like Samsung, LG, and Hyundai all strengthening their robotics businesses, including the humanoid sector, interest in the sector will continue.
