URobotics raises about KRW 40 billion to give any robot its own rough-terrain mobility

Kiwoom Investment and K2 Investment Partners co-led the round, with Hyundai Motor Group's open innovation arm ZER01NE also taking part[1][2]. The company told Edaily the round valued it at more than 10 times its seed round in March last year, and noted it was also picked this year for Samsung Electronics' C-Lab Outside 2026 startup programme[2]. The Robotics Media lists Seoul Investment Partners and Aju IB Investment among the other participants[3].

URobotics does not build robots. It started in 2024 in the Urban Robotics Lab at KAIST's School of Electrical Engineering and develops two things: autonomous navigation, where a robot reads its surroundings and plans a path, and whole-body control, which manages balance and movement across the entire machine[2]. It is building on both to work on loco-manipulation, where a robot handles objects while it walks[2].

E-DONG-KIT packages that work as a modular product that can be fitted to humanoids, quadrupeds and other platforms[1]. Because it is not locked to one maker's hardware, the company pitches it at sites where the ground is uneven and conditions change, rather than flat warehouse floors[2][3].

Since its seed round, URobotics says it has signed customers and booked revenue doing autonomous inspection at construction and energy sites[2]. Next it plans to supply shipbuilding and steelmaking, where labour shortages and safety risks are high, and to apply its mobility technology to unmanned reconnaissance and hazardous-area exploration in defence[2].

"Since the seed investment, we have focused on solving customers' problems in the field and turning the value of our technology into real contracts and revenue," said chief executive Yoo Byung-ho, adding that the company wants to grow into a global physical AI business spanning industry and defence[2].

URobotics is betting that operators will pay separately for the mobility layer that lets any body cope with uneven ground and scaffolding. Hyundai's involvement gives that bet a strategic backer, though the company has not yet named its customers or disclosed contract values[2].