GS Engineering & Construction and Hoban Construction also invested in Robocon, a robot-based construction automation corporations. Construction companies suffering from labor shortages and rising building costs are moving to secure related technology to replace repetitive and hazardous tasks such as rebar processing with robots.
On the 7th, according to the construction industry, the PlanH-XPLOR Green Smart City Venture Investment Partnership, funded by GS Engineering & Construction and Hoban Construction, acquired Robocon's convertible bonds (CB). A CB is a bond that can be converted into the issuing company's stock if certain conditions are met.
The fund was jointly formed in 2024 by XPLOR Investment, the corporate venture capital (CVC) of GS Engineering & Construction, and PlanH Ventures, the Hoban Construction CVC. With a total size of 38.5 billion won, the National Land and Transport sector parent fund contributed 15 billion won, GS Engineering & Construction 11.5 billion won, Hoban Construction 2 billion won, and XPLOR Investment 500 million won, among others.
A XPLOR Investment official said, "We decided from a strategic investment perspective that can boost productivity at construction sites and accelerate digital transformation, and considering investment revenue," adding, "Several institutions are showing interest in the pre-IPO stage of equity investment before listing, but no additional investment has been decided."
Robocon was established in Nov. 2020 when the robotics business unit of Daehan Networks, an affiliate of the DaehanSteel group, was spun off. It develops automation solutions specialized for rebar processing, assembly, and transport.
Its flagship solution, "ARON," automates processing steps such as rebar supply, cutting, and bending. According to Robocon, when producing 3,000 tons of rebar for building frames at a rebar processing plant, up to 30 people were previously needed, but introducing ARON can reduce the workforce to fewer than 10. The company said it can cut labor assigned to repetitive tasks and lower material loss that occurs during rebar processing.
Robocon's automation solutions have also been adopted at overseas sites, including Singapore's Tuas Port and a project related to Taipei Airport in Taiwan, both built by Korean construction companies.
Construction companies are investing in Robocon one after another to address labor shortages at sites and rising construction costs. Automating repetitive tasks that handle heavy materials, such as rebar transport and processing, can raise productivity while also reducing the workforce assigned to hazardous work.
Earlier, Samsung C&T invested about 15 billion won in Robocon in 2023 through a fund managed by Samsung Venture Investment. It then secured a majority of board voting rights and, in the second half of the same year, included Robocon as a consolidation subsidiary. Following Samsung C&T, with GS Engineering & Construction and Hoban Construction joining the investment, competition among major builders to secure construction automation technology is entering full swing.