[Serving Robot CEO] ① Kim Min-su, CEO of Birobotics, "We Will Make Serving Robots Easy to Use Without Burden"

Operating Over 2,500 Units by Year-End
Domestic Production of Serving Robots Targeted This Year
Plans for Global Market Expansion Also in Place

"Serving robots are, frankly speaking, carts that move on their own." The essence of serving robots, as explained by Kim Minsu, CEO of Birobotics, was straightforward. Robots carry food, but people have to load and unload it. However, they greatly help reduce the workload in restaurants. "The price of serving robots that perform simple tasks can be lowered further. We need to reduce the price so that more restaurants can use them."

As of the end of April, Birobotics has supplied over 2,000 serving robots to about 1,600 stores. It is highly likely to exceed its goal of operating more than 2,500 units by the end of this year. This is the result of continuously lowering the barriers to adopting serving robots. Based on this, Birobotics also plans to localize robots domestically and enter the global market this year.

CEO Minsu Kim

CEO Kim said, "The market will grow only if the role of serving robots is clearly recognized and an appropriate price level matching that role is established." His concern is that serving robots, dressed in the guise of advanced robotics technology, tend to be priced excessively or get bogged down in developing functions whose practical value in actual stores is questionable. For example, if attempts had continued to attach arms to serving robots, commercialization like the current one would have been difficult. Not only because of technical difficulty but also because the price could rise to a level that small business owners cannot afford.

Birobotics has focused on narrowing the gap between robots and the market. This is also the competitive edge that CEO Kim points out for Birobotics. They did not set grand goals of bringing innovation to the food service industry by introducing robots. Kim said, "What’s important is to simplify and optimize the technology so that more serving robots can be introduced and prices can be lowered," adding, "Optimization is as challenging a task as technological advancement."

CEO Minsu Kim

Recently, Birobotics introduced a used product in the same context. It is a product that certifies used serving robots through a verification process by robot engineers and makes them available for rental. The fee was lowered to two-thirds of the original, starting at 199,000 KRW per month. Expecting high demand from small business owners, the contract period was set to two years to align with store lease agreements. CEO Kim explained, "Many stores need serving robots, but most worry about the price and contract period. Just like there is demand for used smartphones or cars, we anticipated there would be demand for used serving robots as well."

Birobotics is putting effort into expanding serving robots because it sees this market as still in its early stages. The industry estimates there are about 700,000 restaurants nationwide. Among them, about 10%, or 70,000, are considered potential adopters of serving robots. Birobotics is also actively targeting other types of stores beyond restaurants. Currently, supply is increasing to screen golf centers, billiard halls, and PC rooms. Small factories also seek them for transportation purposes. CEO Kim explained, "The essence of serving robots is automatic transport. Wherever that is needed, they can be applied," adding, "In small factories, they use serving robots to deliver items to the next process after work is completed." In fact, feedback from factory adoption cases showed work efficiency improved by more than 10%.

CEO Minsu Kim

Birobotics spun off from Woowa Brothers in February this year. This was to respond quickly to the growing serving robot market. Now, without the umbrella of Woowa Brothers, they face challenges independently, and the organizational culture is changing to be as bold as a newly founded startup. A representative example is setting the localization of serving robots as a goal for this year. Until now, the focus was more on the solution that drives the hardware rather than the hardware itself. They imported robot models from China and other countries and developed solutions excluding the hardware. The robots supplied to about 1,600 stores currently incorporate Birobotics’ technology, which operates differently depending on the store’s characteristics. However, as the serving robot market grows, they decided to localize the robots to take the lead and dominate the market. CEO Kim said, "We can complete robot localization this year," and added, "Next year, we will introduce domestically produced robots to the market."

They also plan to enter the global market. The first targets are the regions where their parent company Woowa Brothers and Delivery Hero operate. CEO Kim said, "We plan to start pilot service next month in Vietnam, where Baemin has expanded," and added, "We will also enter the Middle Eastern market, such as the United Arab Emirates, where Delivery Hero provides services."