U.S.-based venture capital firms will visit South Korea early next month to meet domestic physical artificial intelligence companies. The investors plan to gauge investment opportunities and explore business tie-ups with Korean firms that have technology in areas such as industrial site data and robot software.
Officials from Mitsui Global Investment, E12 Ventures, Good Growth Capital, Slater Technology Fund and Silicon Foundry will travel to Korea to attend Robot World 2026, the country's largest robot exhibition, to be held in Ilsan from the 4th to the 6th of next month, according to industry sources on the 22nd. The exhibition is hosted annually by the Korea Association of AI and Robot Industry, and domestic venture capital firms had previously made up most of the attendees. This year marks the first time overseas venture capital firms will take part. An association official said the foreign firms attending this year are strongly inclined to invest in Korean companies.
All of the U.S. firms making the trip have invested in deep tech fields such as AI and robotics. Good Growth Capital, which has primarily sourced and backed early-stage companies in the United States, lists data science, life sciences and green tech as investment targets. Slater Technology Fund focuses on identifying companies with technology in software and energy, as well as commercializing university research.
Industry watchers expect Korean robot companies to use the visit not only to attract investment but also to pursue various forms of collaboration. Mitsui Global Investment and E12 Ventures, both affiliated with Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co., are prime examples. Because Mitsui & Co. runs global businesses spanning manufacturing, logistics and energy, Korean firms could gain access to its global network through the two investment arms. Silicon Foundry, a U.S. venture advisory firm that connects large corporations with startups, also counts scouting humanoid startups among its advisory areas. Korean robot companies could use these firms to pursue proof-of-concept projects with global corporations.
Venture capital executives say the interests of foreign investors seeking opportunities in manufacturing-heavy Korea and those of Korean physical AI companies pushing into global markets have converged. Korean physical AI companies in particular are eager to secure overseas capital to expand research and development, data collection and production capacity while widening their contact with local customers. Building computing infrastructure and gathering data for AI training, along with producing robot prototypes, conducting field validation and setting up mass-production systems, all require substantial spending.
Large investments are being made in physical AI in Korea as well, but the amounts raised remain small compared with the United States. Holiday Robotics attracted 155 billion won in July this year, the largest single funding round for a Korean humanoid specialist. In the United States, Apptronik raised $415 million in a Series A round last year and secured an additional $520 million in February this year. An industry official said Korean products and technology can compete in the global market when it comes to robots to be deployed at scale in factories, adding that the challenge is that most Korean physical AI companies have yet to land large customers or secure overseas investment.