URobotics, a Korean startup developing autonomous walking robot technology capable of operating in unstructured environments, announced that it has successfully secured USD 2.25 million (KRW 3 billion) in seed investment.

This investment saw participation from Seoul Investment Partners, Smilegate Investment, and Schmidt. The three investors reportedly decided to invest, focusing on URobotics’ differentiated technology, practical applicability, and global expansion potential.

URobotics has a track record of global-level technical achievements, including winning two awards at the IEEE-hosted international SLAM competition and securing first place in the Quadruped Robot Challenge 2023, surpassing MIT and CMU.

Recently, URobotics was selected for the ‘TIPS (Tech Incubator Program for Startup)’ deep-tech track, a program where the government supports promising startups that have attracted private investment from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, securing an additional USD 1.13 million (KRW 1.5 billion) in equity. Furthermore, the company is participating in an R&D project with KAIST and Daejeon City to create a deep-tech scale-up valley for robots.

URobotics is a startup founded in August 2024, spinning off from KAIST’s Urban Robotics Lab. Based on its world-leading “Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM)” technology, which enables robust operation in various terrains and environments, the company is independently developing path planning technology for autonomous navigation and a gait control system capable of overcoming most obstacles encountered in daily life.

In particular, URobotics’ technology enables stable and agile autonomous walking even in ‘unstructured environments.’ An unstructured environment refers to spaces like stairs, slopes, gravel fields, construction sites, and mountainous terrain, where it is difficult to create structured maps, and frequent obstacles or terrain changes make it challenging for existing wheel-based robots or simple driving algorithms to navigate.

URobotics is developing its proprietary modular autonomous walking solution, ‘E-DONG-KIT (Easy Deployment of Navigation Kit).’ This solution is a versatile kit based on various sensor configurations, including 3D LiDAR, and can be mounted on robots or used portably. Robots equipped with E-DONG-KIT gain freedom of movement, allowing them to go anywhere, including mountainous environments. The company is currently expanding its solutions applicable to high-difficulty environments such as defense, construction, surveillance, and reconnaissance.

The three co-founders of URobotics – CEO Byoungho Yoo, CTO Minho Oh, and CTO Donggyu Lee – are all KAIST graduates, possessing top-tier robotics research capabilities in Korea. The company is now entering the full-fledged productization and commercialization stages and is rapidly expanding its scale through additional recruitment.

Based on this investment, URobotics plans to focus on ▲technology advancement and ▲ full-scale domestic and international B2B sales. Specifically, the company aims to commercialize its technology by targeting industries that operate across both structured and unstructured spaces, such as construction sites, defense/aerospace, and industrial complexes.

Byoungho Yoo, CEO of URobotics, stated, “Our goal is to develop an autonomous walking solution that operates robustly in real-world environments, going beyond mere research levels.” He added, “Leveraging this investment, we will grow into a global-level middleware solution company.”