South Korean robotics startup RLWRLD has emerged from stealth with a ₩21 billion (approx. $14.8 million USD) seed round to build a foundational AI model designed specifically for robots.
The round was led by Hashed, with participation from Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Global Brain, and a lineup of strategic investors including LG Electronics, SK Telecom, Ana Group, PKSHA, and Mitsui Chemical.
What RLWRLD Is Building
Unlike traditional industrial robots that excel at repetitive tasks but struggle with complexity and adaptation, RLWRLD aims to bridge that gap by developing a foundation model that fuses large language models (LLMs) with classic robotics software. The goal: enable robots to handle delicate materials, adjust in real-time, and even perform basic logical reasoning.
“Our model is designed to replicate and automate human expertise, making work environments significantly more efficient,” said Jung-Hee Ryu, founder and CEO of RLWRLD, in an interview with TechCrunch.
RLWRLD’s tech aims to serve a wide range of robotic applications—from industrial to domestic—by enabling high-speed, high-agility movement and more nuanced, intelligent interaction with the physical world.
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How the Funds Will Be Used
The seed funding will go toward:
- Developing proof-of-concept projects with partners
- Building advanced five-finger robotic hand motion capabilities
- Scaling computing infrastructure (GPUs, data collection devices)
- Expanding the team with top-tier research talent
A Strong Strategic Network
The startup is collaborating with its investors to deploy its models in humanoid-based demonstrations, set for later this year. RLWRLD’s platform is being built to support a range of robot types, including industrial robots, collaborative robots, autonomous mobile robots, and humanoids.
A Founder with Deep Tech Roots
This marks Ryu’s third startup. His previous company, Olaworks, was acquired by Intel in 2012 and formed the foundation of Intel’s Korea R&D center for computer vision. He also launched Future Play, a deep tech accelerator.
Ryu said he was driven to start RLWRLD after observing a lack of foundational AI ventures in Korea and Japan, despite those countries being global manufacturing powerhouses.
“Rather than compete in the saturated LLM space, I saw a strategic opportunity in robotics foundation models, aligning with Korea and Japan’s industrial strengths,” Ryu explained.
He has since recruited six professors from leading Korean institutions like KAIST, SNU, and POSTECH, along with their teams, to build RLWRLD’s research engine.
Competition & Edge
RLWRLD joins a growing group of robotics AI startups, including Skild AI, Physical Intelligence, and giants like Tesla, Google DeepMind, and Nvidia. But Ryu believes RLWRLD has an advantage thanks to its high-degree-of-freedom (DoF) reference robots and direct access to manufacturing data from local partners.
What’s Next?
RLWRLD plans to start generating revenue this year through pilot projects with its strategic partners. While the long-term vision includes applications in logistics, retail, and even home robots, the company’s initial focus is industrial settings, where demand—and willingness to pay—is strongest.
Currently, RLWRLD has a 13-person team, and it’s just getting started.
