Domestic Robotics startups are emerging as a core pillar of the Humanoid Robot industry ecosystem.
As AI technology advances, enabling robots to make autonomous decisions and perform precise movements, Humanoid Robots are evolving to the stage of deployment on factory floors. As a result, there is an assessment that startups with rapid technology development and agile commercialization capabilities are leading industrial innovation.
In particular, startups that have secured technological prowess are accelerating commercialization by collaborating with large corporations that have capital strength and production infrastructure. Large corporations are securing startups' AI and robotics technology, while startups are leveraging large corporations' manufacturing capabilities, expanding the cooperative structure in this way. Goldman Sachs projected that the global humanoid market will grow to $3.5 billion (about 5.2 trillion won) by 2035.
◇ "Speed is competitiveness" startups pursue agile technology development
Humanoid Robot startup Holiday Robotics recently raised about 150 billion won in a Series A funding round. The company's valuation is estimated at about 1 trillion won, and since its founding in 2024 it is on the verge of becoming a unicorn within two years.
The first product is also developing quickly. Holiday Robotics is targeting commercialization of its industrial humanoid Friday in July. Friday combines a wheel-based mobility structure with high-degree-of-freedom robot hands and tactile sensors, specializing in repetitive tasks at logistics and manufacturing sites.
Holiday Robotics' research and development (R&D) staff totals 42, accounting for 87.5% of the entire company. They work on technology development in a flat structure, rapidly build prototypes, and continuously revise and refine to improve technological completeness.
Founder and CEO Song Gi-young said, "We established a system to rapidly develop technology and continuously improve it, based on a structure where the research team and the CEO communicate horizontally."
Wirobotics is also cited as a startup with fast, feedback-driven development capabilities. Founded in 2021 by former Samsung Electronics robot engineers, the company commercialized the wearable gait-assist robot Wym and has moved on to develop the Humanoid Robot Alex.
In particular, the experience of accumulating real user data and improving products is said to be translating into competitiveness in Humanoid Robot development. After unveiling Alex at CES 2026 in January, Wirobotics plans to release a research platform this year and push to establish a mass-production system next year. The industry views gait control technology secured from wearable robots and on-site feedback experience as accelerating the development speed of Humanoid Robots.
◇ Collaboration with large corporations expands, mass-production systems accelerate
As the Humanoid Robot industry enters the stages of mass production and on-site application, collaboration between startups and large corporations is gaining full swing. In particular, large corporations are securing technological capabilities through acquisitions and strategic investments in promising robot startups and are accelerating commercialization by combining capital strength with production and supply chain capabilities.
Rainbow Robotics, considered a first-generation Robotics startup, has been speeding up the establishment of a mass-production system since joining the Samsung Group in 2024. Rainbow Robotics, which developed Korea's first human-shaped robot Hubo, recently unveiled the mobile dual-arm robot RB-Y2 aimed at real industrial deployments.
In particular, Oh Jun-ho, co-founder and former chief technology officer (CTO) of Rainbow Robotics and a distinguished professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at KAIST, currently heads the Future Robot Initiative at Samsung Electronics, leading the development of next-generation robots including humanoids. Analysts say the combination of the startup's technological prowess and Samsung Electronics' production capabilities is accelerating humanoid development and commercialization.
Boston Dynamics, acquired by Hyundai Motor Group in 2020, released a Humanoid Robot Atlas video on YouTube on the 5th. In the video, Atlas performs high-difficulty gymnastics movements, such as standing on two feet and then doing a handstand supported by its arms. Atlas is scheduled to be deployed to Hyundai Motor Group's Metaplant America (HMGMA) in Georgia in 2028 to conduct process-by-process verification.
A Robotics startup head said, "Even just looking at Samsung and Hyundai Motor acquiring Robotics startups shows the technological influence of startups," adding, "In the humanoid industry, the agile method of rapid development and iterative improvement, along with swift decision-making structures, is acting as core competitiveness."
The person also said, "The earlier the market in which new technologies and products emerge, the more likely it is that startups' agile innovation capabilities will determine the pace of industry development."