[On Site] The Trend is Unmanned Startups... Advanced Robots Arrive Amid Growing Contactless Popularity

On the 24th, visitors are touring booths at the 52nd IFS Franchise Seoul exhibition held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Korea Franchise Association

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] "Does this robot handle everything from ordering to cooking and serving? How many minutes does it take in total? Please explain the difference between the monthly rental fee and the purchase price."

On the 24th, the franchise expo held at COEX in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, was bustling with visitors, reflecting the recent recovery trend in the startup market.

The 52nd IFS Franchise Seoul, the largest startup expo in Korea, opened on this day at COEX in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Hosted by the Korea Franchise Industry Association and co-organized by COEX and Reed Exhibitions, the expo runs for three days from the 24th to the 26th. A total of 300 brands from various industries including unmanned services, food service, distribution, and store operations participated with 550 booths.

On the 24th, visitors lined up at the entrance to enter the exhibition hall of the 52nd IFS Franchise Seoul held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Korea Franchise Association

At the expo, especially reflecting the increase in young entrepreneurs in their 20s to 40s and the enthusiasm of office workers for side jobs, many young prospective entrepreneurs were seen. They showed enthusiasm by carefully recording consultation details in pamphlets or notebooks and taking videos while asking numerous questions.

The organizers expected around 17,000 to 18,000 visitors during the expo period. Although this is fewer than the usual 20,000 visitors before COVID-19, it is an increase compared to the 15,000 visitors in the second half of last year when social distancing measures were stricter.

This expo mainly featured collaborative robots, unmanned stores, and devices reflecting the rapidly spreading non-face-to-face trend. Unlike in the past, not only small and medium-sized companies but also large corporations demonstrated robots, showcasing more advanced and specialized technologies that attracted visitors' attention.

On the 24th, visitors are watching a cooking robot demonstration at the Doosan Robotics booth set up in the IFS Franchise Seoul exhibition hall held at COEX, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Korea Franchise Association

Doosan Robotics, located at the innermost part of the expo hall, exhibited products applying service applications such as a modular robot cafe (Dr. Presso), a frying and noodle cooking robot (Cookbot Chef) developed in collaboration with partner companies, an ice cream robot, and a serving robot in a large booth measuring 30m wide and 11m deep.

The Cookbot Chef series is a product newly introduced at this expo through collaboration between Doosan Robotics and cooking robot manufacturer Robotech. When an order is entered, one robot handles the entire process of cooking the ingredients, plating, and serving. Equipped with six joints and built-in torque sensors, it delicately performs tasks such as draining noodles after boiling or lifting pots to plate food without spilling a single drop, impressing visitors who watched with amazement.

It can prepare most fried dishes including meat, vegetables, and frozen foods, frying up to 24 chickens per hour. It can also cook over 20 types of noodle dishes including Korean, Chinese, and Western styles, preparing up to 60 bowls per hour.

Ryu Jeonghoon, CEO of Doosan Robotics, said, "Through close collaboration with partners from various industries, we expanded our business areas to logistics and F&B service sectors last year, resulting in the first domestic milestone of selling over 1,000 collaborative robots annually. This year, we plan to pioneer new markets applying collaborative robots and achieve cumulative annual sales exceeding 2,000 units."

On the 24th, visitors are receiving startup consultations at the Washenjoy booth set up at the IFS Franchise Seoul exhibition hall held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Moon Hyewon, Asia Economy

Besides robots, various service sectors such as meal kits, stationery stores, study cafes, sports facilities, beauty specialty shops, laundromats, car washes, and print cafes, which have rapidly increased with unmanned operations recently, showcased business models integrated with IT technology, sparking visitors' curiosity. Most payments are made through kiosks in unmanned systems.

For example, at the ‘Jjang Table Tennis’ booth, where the device automatically throws balls so that even a single customer can easily and enjoyably play, customers eager to try hitting balls on the unmanned table tennis table continuously visited.

At the self-service laundromat ‘Wash & Joy’ booth, dozens of white dress shirts rotating continuously and being cleaned attracted the attention of visitors.