Naver Invests in Two Companies Including a Chicken Cooking Automation Startup

[Asia Economy Reporter Bu Aeri] Naver's startup nurturing organization D2SF has made new investments in two food tech startups.

According to Naver on the 25th, the investment target startups are 'Beyond Honeycomb,' which is developing an AI chef solution using artificial intelligence (AI) and molecular sensors, and 'Roboarte,' which is developing a chicken cooking automation solution based on collaborative robots.

Beyond Honeycomb is developing a solution that reproduces chefs' dishes with consistent taste by utilizing AI technology. It accumulates chefs' cooking methods as data and reproduces them through automated devices.

Roboarte analyzes the chicken cooking process and kitchen environment to plan automation scenarios and optimizes collaborative robots and various equipment. The company explained that it has succeeded in verifying profitability by cooking up to 40 chickens per hour with consistent quality and taste.

Yang Sanghwan, leader of D2SF, said, "Existing cooking automation technologies were mainly for research or marketing purposes, making them difficult to apply in actual cooking sites. On the other hand, these two teams have created products that can be applied in real kitchens and are focusing on the most important value in food tech, which is 'the taste of food.'"

Meanwhile, Naver D2SF, launched in May 2015, has invested in 65 technology startups so far.