Samsung backs Korea autonomous delivery start-up
Samsung Venture Investment has invested in Korea’s Neubility, a robot maker aiming to “automate urban sidewalks” via autonomous rolling boxes capable of on-demand deliveries.
The investment – of KRW 3bn – brings total funding since the company’s inception in 2017 to KRW 30bn (USD 23m). The capital is expected to support entries into Japan, Europe, and the US, as well as a factory in Southeast Asia.
Neubility was launched by Samsung Electronics’ C-Lab Outside incubator and is best known for its line of boxy, autonomous delivery vehicles called Neubie. Initial usage areas include universities, factories, and residential apartments.
The technology suite includes visual simultaneous localisation and mapping, and artificial intelligence-enabled perception. There are also systems for monitoring, remote operation, data collection and analysis, customer authentication, and order management.
The latest investment follows a KRW 23bn Series A round last year from IMM Investment, Shinsegae Signite Partners, Kakao Investment, Lotte Ventures, DS&Partners, KB Investment, Fort2Dot, SK Telecom, Capstone Partners, Future Play, and Shinhan Capital.
That round also featured Samsung Welstory, a food distribution business, and autonomous mobility platform 42dot. Shinhan and Lotte have also invested in 42dot, which was acquired by Hyundai Motor and Kia last year in a KRW 427.7bn deal.
At the time of Neubility’s Series A, CEO Sangmin Lee retained about 50% ownership in the start-up and was the largest shareholder. Lee told Mergermarket, AVCJ’s sister publication, last year that Neubility would launch a KRW 60bn Series B in December.
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