FuturePlay invests seed funding in wearable work-assist robot startup 'Wirobotics'

Focusing on User-Centered Robot Development Beyond the Limits of Robot Technology

Accelerator FuturePlay (CEO Ryu Jung-hee) announced on the 12th that it has made a seed investment in the wearable work-assist robot development startup 'Wirobotics'. From left in the photo: CEO Kim Yong-jae, COO Choi Byung-jun, CTO Noh Chang-hyun, CEO Lee Yeon-baek. Photo by Wirobotics

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] Accelerator FuturePlay (CEO Ryu Junghee) announced on the 12th that it has made a seed investment in the wearable work-assist robot development startup ‘Wirobotics.’ The investment amount is undisclosed.

Wirobotics is a company developing wearable work-assist robots that are comfortable to wear, flexible, and capable of assisting with great force, based on high-performance safety robot design and control technology and wearable robot technology. It was established in August this year by Professor Kim Yongjae of Korea University of Technology and Education, co-CEO Lee Yeonbaek, who led robot development at Samsung Electronics’ Robot Center, CTO Noh Changhyun, and COO Choi Byungjun.

Wirobotics’ robots can perform driving and various tasks while being worn. They also allow for rest such as sitting or lying down. A distinctive feature is the ‘Smart Work Care Service’ linked with the robot, which analyzes the user’s work type, motion intensity, and work bias based on big data obtained from the robot, and proposes musculoskeletal health management and work environment improvement plans to the user.

CEO Kim Yongjae previously developed the safe high-performance robot arm ‘AMBIDEX’ in collaboration with Naver Labs and developed the biomimetic robot hand ‘FLLEX hand,’ receiving the Best Paper Award at the 2020 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (IEEE ICRA), recognizing his technological expertise. Additionally, CEO Lee Yeonbaek, CTO Noh Changhyun, and COO Choi Byungjun developed the robot and wearable walking assist device ‘GEMS,’ which received significant attention at CES 2020, the 2020 International Consumer Electronics Show.

Lee Yeonbaek, CEO of Wirobotics, said, “Recently, as the logistics and delivery business rapidly grows, various wearable work-assist robots have been released to improve harsh working environments, but there is no robot that satisfies users. Wirobotics is expected to overcome the limitations and stereotypes of existing robot technology and the shortcomings of wearable robots so far.”

Choi Jaewoong, FuturePlay investment manager, said, “Wirobotics, composed of top experts who have intensively researched and developed next-generation robot technology for over 20 years, possesses high technological capability and potential. We decided to invest because it is judged to be a core technology for achieving ESG management in the logistics and delivery business, where labor standards and safety of employees must be considered.”

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