Manufacturing-focused physical AI corporations CarbonSix raised a total of $40 million (about 60 billion won) in Series A funding from major domestic and overseas venture capital (VC) firms.
CarbonSix said on the 2nd that DSC Investment and LB Investment co-led the round, with IMM Investment, Korea Development Bank (KDB), SV Investment, and U.S.-based Cortentia and A Squared (ASQ) joining as new investors.
Existing investors Foothill Ventures, Storm Ventures, Zeitgeist Capital, Xquared, and CarbonBlack also joined the follow-on round.
CarbonSix is a startup that develops robot AI and automation technologies that can be applied immediately on manufacturing floors. It noted that it has focused on developing products that can be applied to real manufacturing processes, not stopping at lab-level technology demonstrations.
The company said its products and technologies are being introduced on actual manufacturing sites, leading to customer contracts and revenue. Unlike many robot AI corporations that remain at the proof-of-concept (PoC) stage, it highlighted validation of business viability through field deployment and revenue as a differentiator.
CarbonSix built a data flywheel structure of "tool use–data accumulation–model improvement–better tool delivery" based on on-site data accumulated during the use of automation tools. It said this continuously increases product performance and customer value.
The founding team's background is also drawing attention. CEO Moon Tae-yeon founded industrial AI corporations SuaLab and has experience selling it to Cognex, and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Seo Hyeong-ju is a robot AI expert with a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Chief Hardware Officer (CHO) Kim Je-hyeok is a former postdoctoral researcher at Yale University in the United States with expertise in robot hand and manipulator design.
CarbonSix CEO Moon Tae-yeon said, "From the beginning, we aimed to develop robot AI that leads to customer outcomes on manufacturing floors rather than the technology itself," adding, "With this investment, we will actively invest in top talent and infrastructure to accelerate the global manufacturing industry's transition to physical AI."
Kang Seong-min, director at DSC Investment, said, "CarbonSix is a rare robot AI corporations that did not stop at a technology demo but achieved actual field deployment and revenue generation," adding, "We focused on the scalability of a business model in which automation tools and on-site data combine to continuously enhance competitiveness."
Jeong Seong-uk, principal at LB Investment, said, "As the physical AI market enters a full-fledged growth phase, CarbonSix has already proven its technological prowess through field applicability and customer value," adding, "We judged that it has ample potential to grow into a global corporations."