Received 10 Billion Investment and Surpassed 100 Stores... The Era of Robot Cafes 'Approaches'

Robot Cafe 'Beat', 70% Increase in Stores Last Year
Fully Unmanned Process from Beverage Order to Pickup
Service Robot Market Expected to Reach '134 Trillion' in 2024

Bit Corporation's 100th robot cafe "Bit," opened at K Bank headquarters in Gwanghwamun, Seoul.
[Photo by Bit Corporation]

[Asia Economy Reporter Junhyung Lee] The era of robot baristas is dawning. This is the result of increased demand for service robots due to the spread of contactless culture. In line with the growth of the service robot market, cafes where robot baristas make coffee are expected to be seen throughout urban areas.

According to the industry on the 13th, Bit Corporation (Bit), a robot cafe franchise, recently opened its 100th store. The pre-production quantity of the second-generation model of the robot barista Bit has also all been sold. This is a remarkable achievement following a 10 billion KRW Series A investment received last month.

The growth trend is also remarkable. Bit was launched in 2017 as a task force (TF) within Danal F&B, which operates the cafe franchise Dalkom. As demand for contactless services increased due to the impact of COVID-19, the number of stores increased by about 70% last year alone. According to Bit, an average of 150,000 drinks are sold monthly at Bit stores nationwide. The number of membership application (app) subscribers has exceeded 200,000.

Bit does not have resident staff like baristas. From ordering drinks to preparation and pickup, the entire cafe operation process is unmanned. When ordering coffee, customers can select options such as the amount of coffee beans, syrup, and concentration, allowing for personalized orders. The robot barista can prepare over 50 types of menus according to customer preferences.

Additionally, app-based contactless ordering minimizes unnecessary waiting time in stores. The robot barista also expresses emotions through its display.

Unmanned robot cafes are expected to rapidly increase in line with the rapidly growing service robot market. According to the securities industry, the global service robot market is growing at an average annual rate of 42.2%, expanding from 34.3 trillion KRW in 2019 to 135 trillion KRW in 2024. Considering the explosive increase in untact demand due to COVID-19, this growth rate may become even steeper.

A venture capital official who participated in the Series A investment last month said, “Bit has stable demand from corporate in-house cafes,” adding, “There is growth momentum such as expansion into B2C (business to consumer) commercial areas like universities and shopping malls due to the contactless consumption trend.”

Meanwhile, Bit Corporation is finalizing the development of the third-generation Bit model and is preparing for its release this month. Unlike the first and second-generation Bit models, which utilized about 2 pyeong (approx. 6.6 square meters) of space and specialized in the B2B (business to business) market such as in-house corporate cafes, the third generation targets the B2C market. It focuses on retail services based on automated operations, similar to Amazon's unmanned grocery store ‘Amazon Go.’

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.