LG ELECTRONICS is bet on robotics as its future growth promoter. The South Korean Electronic Company said on Friday that it agreed to buy an additional 30% shares in Bear Robotics, a previously supported California-based startup who is building servers robots with restaurants. The agreement gives the LG a 51% majority ownership in Startup, which will now become a branch of the largest company. LG refused to comment on the value of its latest shares; A local media in Korea says it is about $ 180 million. If it is correct, this would give Bear a total rating of $ 600 million.
A company spokesman added that the correct figure will be revealed once the deal is closed.
Bear is known for his expertise in technology who is able to control numerous robots, especially fleet management from a distance, LG said in its statement. The technology giant aims to integrate Bear with its unit of commercial robots, which has developed “LG Cloi Robots” to reinforce the divisions of its home robots and industrial robots.
Technology behemoth says he is working on developing a comprehensive software platform for commercial, industrial and household robots using Bear technology. With the robotics industry moving more towards the solutions focused on him, this investment and agreement is expected to improve LG robotic software skills, LG said.
The news comes less than a year after the electronics company poured $ 60 million in Bear Robotics in March 2024. This deal already made LG the largest Bear shareholder. Bear’s earlier funding in 2022 rated it to over $ 490 million for Pitchbook data.
CEO and founder John Ha and the Bear management team will remain and will continue to help create synergies with the LG robotic unit.
Ha, a former Google software engineer turned to the restaurant, founded Bear in 2017 after witnessing the challenges of running a restaurant, which motivated him to develop service robots. Startup supported by Softbank operates robots of shipments indoors in the US, South Korea and Japan. His robots are created to help distribute food to restaurant customers.
“This additional investment underlines our commitment to positioning robots as a leading growth engine for the company, reflecting our confidence in their inevitable role in the future,” Lee Sam-Soo, chief strategy in LG Electronics said in a statement . “We will insist on promoting innovation across all sectors of robotics, including commercial, industrial and household applications.”
Robots and robotics were a bit of a topic this year at CES 2025 and LG became part of this story. With LG William Cho CEO, emphasizing the potential for robots to expand their applications beyond their current roles in sectors such as the hospitality and logistics of deliveries.
LG’s interest in technology dates long before this year and the latest artificial intelligence fashion in everything, with Korea and Japan who have been early commercial adopters of some of the earliest repetitions in the field. The Korean Electronics Company has researched and developed software and robotic equipment for more than a decade. In 2017, LG placed robots of guidance at the largest South Korean airport, Incheon International Airport.
LG also has a considerable home robotics business through the Division of LG home appliances solutions. His home robots are created to work with home appliances and other home scenarios. An example of the self-directional household center, a project called Q9, which is planned to be published later this year. It has autonomous management technologies and can feel voices, sounds and images. Q9 has Microsoft’s voice cognition and synthesis technology, so users can have easy and natural conversations with it.
Its industrial robot, the “articulated vertical autonomous robot”, uses sensors to navigate, move and perform tasks with its robotic arm.
Samsung, the LG rival in the electronics sector, said earlier this month that it will market its home robot in the first half of this year.
