Value context and insight. lkm@koreatimes.co.kr
Food tech startups on rise, looking to offer robot-mediated services
A cooking robot manufactured by Wave Lifestyle Technologies prepares a dish in the kitchen of a restaurant in Seoul, May 8. Courtesy of Lifestyle Technologies
By Lee Kyung-min
By Lee Kyung-min
A growing number of food tech services are moving to introduce artificial intelligence (AI) and robot-mediated services, in a move to integrate the advanced technologies with businesses seeking to cut fixed labor costs and fortify overall efficiency, market watchers said Thursday.
Wave Lifestyle Technologies, a local kitchen robot startup is seeking to attract 33 billion won ($25 million) in investment for the development and fast commercialization of robots.
Up to 20 billion won will be mobilized by ABiz, a local private equity fund in the form of issuing convertible bonds.
The startup was founded in 2018 as a supplier of cooking robots and dispensers that automatically put a variety of food ingredients on or in certain containers.
The firm plans to acquire Hanil Oneex, a local supplier of food-making machines and other kitchen equipment needed at cafeterias of large conglomerates and their affiliates.
Wave-manufactured cooking robots are able to produce about 250 finished products per hour. They can process 75 menu items including stirred rice and steaks.
Other firms are showing keen interest in AI chef robots.
Beyond Honeycomb, a local food tech startup, locked in 7 billion won worth of investments mediated jointly by LB Investment and the Korea Development Bank last month.
Most appreciated by investors was the robot's ability to analyze and reproduce the dishes made by world-renowned chefs.
They are able to tell and measure whether the food is burned or roasted enough.
The dishes replicated by the robots will be sold, after paying copyright fees to the chefs.
As of this month, the number of restaurant operators in Korea stands at about 700,000.
About 10,000 serving robots will be available before the end of this year.
MarketsandMarkets Research, a market research firm, predicted that the global food robot market will grow to $4 billion in 2026, up from $1.9 billion in 2020, registering an annual growth of 13 percent.