putting effort in domestic field testing
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| ▲Construction Material Transport Robot developed by Gole-Roboticsz (GL250) |
[소셜밸류=박완규 기자] Gole-Robotics, developing autonomous construction robots, announced on the 17th that it secured 5.7 billion KRW in Pre-A round funding on the 13th, with participation from SBVA (SoftBank Ventures Asia) and other investors.
This round gained additional significance as top-tier domestic and international venture capital firms, including SBVA, Industrial Bank of Korea, Primer Sazze, and Kimgisa Lab, participated amid the trend of rapidly shrinking investments.
Started as a corporate venture under the Posco Group, Gole-Robotics has dominated three major domestic government support programs — ‘DIPS 1000+’, ‘Deep Tech TIPS’, and ‘Global TIPS’ — securing 2.7 billion KRW in government support over three years. The successful funding round is expected to enable stable technology development of the company.
Notably, in October, Gole-Robotics conducted a public field test at a construction site in Songdo, Incheon, showcasing its technology to key investors, construction companies, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport’s Smart Construction Alliance. The startup is gaining attention in the construction industry and is expanding pilot applications with various construction companies.
Gole-Robotics aims to reduce the duration and cost of construction by using autonomous robots to transport materials at night. To achieve the goal, the company’s core technology is autonomous navigation based on architectural blueprints, designed to operate in the harsh conditions of construction sites.
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| ▲Photo from IBK Changgong final demo day presentation |
The company has also garnered attention by winning top awards in major competitions such as Challenge! K-Startup and K-Digital Grand.
Dong-min Lee, CEO of Gole-Robotics, emphasized the significance of this funding, calling it a “glorious achievement” amid the severely frozen domestic economic conditions. He added, “With this investment, we will advance autonomous lifting robots and expand into digital services that manage the entire construction process using construction data and generative AI technology.”
Furthermore, Lee shared his confidence in expanding into the U.S., which is the top destination for overseas construction orders by Korean construction companies.
He presented a detailed roadmap for this expansion, noting that the labor shortage in the U.S. construction industry, exacerbated by immigration policies after Trump’s election, presents an opportunity for Gole-Robotics to provide robotic automation and unmanned solutions to construction companies.
Gole-Robotics has defined three major construction projects — semiconductor, secondary battery, and automobile factory construction — and plans to hold public PoC and business presentations targeting domestic semiconductor and secondary battery manufacturers.
[ⓒ 사회가치 공유 언론-소셜밸류. 무단전재-재배포 금지]
