LG sees robotics as future growth engine

LG Electronics’ recent investment in US-based Bossa Nova Robotics marks the first overseas investment in a robotics partner by LG following a number of deals with Korean startups over the past year. LG has committed over US$90 million so far to robotics startups in the first 12 months of its investment initiative.

Bossa Nova Robotics is a provider of real-time, on-shelf product data for the
global retail industry. It helps large-scale retail stores run more efficiently by automating collection and analysis of on-shelf inventory data.

The funding of Bossa Nova follows LG’s investments in four other Korea-based robotics companies: Acryl, SG ROBOTICS, Robotis and Robostar:

 Acryl, founded by a team of academics from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), is a cognitive computing company providing an integrated artificial intelligence (AI) platform called Jonathan which can recognise human emotions and meanings from text, speech and image based on big data and deep learning.

 SG ROBOTICS is a startup company that develops wearable robots to assist people with mobility challenges, including paraplegics and neuromuscular disease patients.

The company is working on commercialising a wearable robot for children. SG ROBOTICS’ WalkON Suit won a bronze medal in the first Cybathlon in 2016 and was the first torch bearer at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympics.

 Robotis specialises in robotic solutions and educational robots. It is known for its proprietary smart actuators used in multi-jointed robots and produces hardware such as controllers and sensor modules to robot programming software.

 Robostar makes industry robots. It aims to be a one-stop solution
provider for companies involved in industries such as mobile, display, automobile and semiconductor.

These investments complement LG’s own efforts to bring service robots to market in the very near future as an anticipated core growth engine for the company. LG has already deployed a number of robots in Korea for trials, with its Guide Robot and Clean-
ing Robot dispatched to assist travellers at South Korea’s largest airport during the winter games in PyeongChang.

Earlier this year, at CES, LG introduced three new CLOi concept robots specifically developed for commercial use in high-traffic locations such
as hotels and supermarkets. LG’s CLOi robots are being developed in parallel to ThinQ products, LG’s AI brand for consumer electronics and home appliances.

“Robotics, as a key component of our ThinQ AI strategy, is a critical future growth opportunity for LG,” said Kim Sungwook, VP of the global open innovation division at LG Electronics.

“LG is committed to expanding its robotics capabilities through investments in innovative partners as well as intense R&D efforts from within.”