As robotics advances, the industry is steadily adopting more robots to automate many types of grant work. In 2023, over 540,000 new industrial robots were installed worldwide, with the total number of industrial robots installed to more than 4 million for each IFR.
Industrial robots are usually better at repetitive tasks, but find it difficult to perform accurate tasks, process delicate materials and adjust to changing conditions. For example, a restaurant kitchen robot can be more than useful. So many industrial processes are still manual.
Korean startup RLWRLD aims to solve this problem with a basic AI model built specifically for robotics by combining large-scale language models with traditional robotics software. The company says the model will allow robots to move quickly and agilely and also allow them to carry out some degree of “logical reasoning.”
In an exclusive interview with TechCrunch, Jung-Hee Ryu, founder and CEO of RLWRLD, said, “The basic model of RLWRLD can be used to fully automate processes that require a lot of manual work and to make the work environment more efficient.”
The startup is currently out of stealth at 21 billion KRW (approximately $14.8 million) in seed funding. The round was hashed by venture capital companies, and MiraAirset Venture Investment and Global Brain also invested.
In particular, RLWRLD has gathered a long list of major strategic investors from Japan’s ANA Group, PKSHA, Mitsui Chemical, Shimadzu and Kddi. LG Electronics and SK Telecom from Korea. Amber made from India.
RLWRLD said SEED funds will be used to fund proof-of-concept projects with strategic investors. Buy secure computing infrastructure such as GPUs, robots, buy devices, and collect extensive data. And hire research talent. Also, startups will use new money to develop advanced hand movements, including five fingers. This is a feature that has not yet been demonstrated by competitors such as Tesla, Diagram AI and 1X, Ryu said.
Ryu said RLWRLD is working with strategic investors to explore ways to automate various human-centered workflows using AI models. Together they are preparing a demonstration of humanoid-based autonomous behavior scheduled for later this year, Ryu said. Additionally, the company is working to develop platforms that can support a wide range of robots, including industrial, joint, autonomous mobile robots and humanoids.
Founded in 2024, RLWRLD is RYU’s third startup. His second startup, Olaworks, was acquired by Intel in 2012 and eventually became Intel’s Korean R&D center within the computer vision division. And in 2015 he founded Future Play, a startup accelerator focusing on deep tech companies.
When asked what prompted him to start a new company again, Ryu said that while AI startups noticed how quickly the numbers in the US, Europe and China were growing, there were relatively few equivalent AI startups in Korea and Japan.
He spoke with over 30 AI professors in Korea and Japan, and over 30 AI professors about obstacles and available opportunities that have discouraged them in starting up a venture, including a lack of infrastructure such as data and GPUs.
“I believe that prioritizing the Robot Foundation Model (RFM) over the technically saturated sector of LLMS is strategically beneficial, and I am leveraging the remarkable global strength in South Korea and Japan’s manufacturing,” he said.
Soon after that, he launched RLWRLD with six professors from top-ranked Korean institutions, including Kaist, SNU and Postech.
RLWRLD is not just trying to tackle this issue. Startups like Skild AI and Physical Intelligence are building similar fundamental models of robotics, as well as big companies like Tesla, Google Deepmind and Nvidia.
However, Ryu believes his startup is off to a good start as he already has the AI and robotics experts needed to develop basic models of robotics and the AI and robotics experts needed to develop humanoid robots with high degree of freedom (DOF).
“And more (such companies) usually rely on low-DoF robots, such as two-finger grippers. RLWRLD already has advanced reference robots, so we expect excellent performance results,” he said.
Ryu also said thanks to strategic investors, RLWRLD can quickly collect valuable data from nearby manufacturing sites. In 2024, the report showed that Japan and South Korea collectively account for 9.2% of global manufacturing production.
RLWRLD is already aiming to raise revenue this year through collaboration demonstrations between proof of concept (POC) projects and strategic partners.
The long-term goal of a startup is to accommodate factories, logistics centres, retailers, and even robots that can be used in a domestic environment to support household chores. In the meantime, our priorities are targeting industry. Because they pay the most and have a strong demand for automation.
The startup has 13 employees.