Free Kitchen Lab Raises Seed Funding from LG Electronics and Bluepoint Partners

F&B automation and robotics solution startup Free Kitchen Lab has secured Seed funding from LG Electronics and Bluepoint Partners, the company announced August 20.

The investment amount and valuation were not disclosed.

Free Kitchen Lab spun out from STUDIO 341, an internal venture program jointly operated by LG Electronics and Bluepoint Partners, and both firms participated in the seed round.

The startup provides robotics integration and operational optimization solutions for F&B businesses. CEO Jinho Yoo founded the company after running restaurant operations in Wuhan, China for seven years and working on automation equipment and solutions at LG Electronics. The team combines experience in restaurant operations, franchise expansion, automation equipment control, and software development.

Free Kitchen Lab identified a critical gap in the food-service automation market: while rising labor costs erode restaurant profitability, a lack of proven case studies and performance data prevents widespread adoption of automation equipment.

Individual automation devices—automatic stir-fryers, dishwashers, noodle cookers—are continuously launched, but each manufacturer uses different communication protocols. Operational data such as orders, sales, and equipment status remain siloed across multiple systems, limiting overall efficiency gains.

Free Kitchen Lab is developing an integrated control system that connects small AIoT modules to existing and new kitchen equipment—automatic stir-fryers, dishwashers, noodle cookers—allowing operators to monitor and control multi-vendor devices from a single tablet interface regardless of manufacturer.

The goal is to reduce repetitive manual tasks by connecting equipment status, orders, sales, and work progress under a unified framework. Rather than automating every device at once, the company plans to begin with status monitoring and data collection, then gradually expand control capabilities within the scope permitted by equipment manufacturers.

Free Kitchen Lab is currently in discussions with franchise headquarters and food-service companies to conduct proof-of-concept pilots and verify tangible operational benefits such as equipment connection stability and reduced labor hours.

“Cooking and dishwashing processes, where labor costs are concentrated, have high automation demand, but integrated solutions that small restaurants can actually deploy and operate have been limited,” said Jeongsoo Park, Principal at Bluepoint Partners. “Free Kitchen Lab is a team that understands both technology and food service, and is positioned to standardize and scale kitchen automation systems.”

“Food-service automation requires stable real-time connection among disparate equipment and order-and-operations data on the floor,” said CEO Yoo. “We want to be the company that prepares for the moment when restaurant owners transition from cook to data-driven manager of robots and operations.”

STUDIO 341 was launched in 2023 to discover internal ventures that carry forward the founding spirit of Goldstar (LG’s predecessor). Bluepoint Partners manages the entire process—from selection through incubation to spin-off—together with LG Electronics.

In South Korea, several startups are introducing AI-based solutions to meet manufacturing automation demand. MiCUBE Solution deployed a USD 1.76 million (KRW 2.37 billion) AI autonomous manufacturing platform at Paldo’s Naju factory, implementing physical AI that not only analyzes data but directly controls production equipment in ramen manufacturing. PlanX ranked first in the world’s largest mobile manufacturer’s technology evaluation and achieved cumulative orders of USD 22.3 million (KRW 3 billion).