Neubility attracts investment from Samsung
South Korea's Samsung Electronics plans to come up with EX1, a robot designed to help the elderly with exercise, later this year, according to its top executive on March 21.Samsung Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee also said that the tech giant had contacted many robotics companies with the aim of achieving acquisition within this year.“We regard the robotics business as a new growth engine. We are currently working on EX1 to be marketed this year,” Han said in a press conference in Seoul.“Because of the lackluster economy, our M&A is being postponed. But we will see a good result this year,” he said. “We are striving to close a deal within this year, although it may depend on the talks with the other party.”However, Han did not provide details on the new assistant robot.Han also said that Samsung researchers had put forth efforts to develop a robotics platform. He did not explain what that means, though.Samsung has looked after robotics companies to buy with the aim of improving its competitive edge in the potential-rich business.For example, the Seoul-based company recently spent $21.3 million to purchase an additional 4.77 percent stake in Rainbow Robotics, which makes humanoid robots.As a result, its stake in the startup rose to 14.99 percent to become its second-largest shareholder. Founded in 2011, Rainbow Robotics went public in 2021 in the South Korean stock exchange.In a related move, Samsung said on March 21 that it had invested $2.3 million on Neubility, which develops autonomous driving technology based on multiple cameras.The startup won an innovation award at the Consumer Electronics Show this year with its self-driving robot named Neubie designed to carry out on-demand delivery services.Samsung has supported the company since 2021 by providing consulting services.이 기사를 공유합니다
Tim Kim
(voc200@gmail.com)