[Serving Robot CEO] ② Jeong Ho-jeong, CEO of RGT, "The Era of Domestic Robot Production Will Come"

Editor's NoteThe forefront of robot popularization in Korea is the restaurant industry. Already, over 5,000 serving robots carry food in restaurants nationwide. After just four years of introducing serving robots, seeing robot waiters no longer feels awkward. These robots carry more than just food?they also embody the development of the robotics industry and the solution to small business labor shortages. This year marks the era of 10,000 serving robots. We listened to the stories of the people driving this market.

Jung Hojung, CEO of RGT.

Most of the serving robots frequently seen these days in restaurants and cafes are made in China. VD Company, which holds a 70-80% market share in the domestic serving robot market and ranks first, imports serving robots from China’s Pudu Robotics. Woowa Brothers’ subsidiary, Birobotics, also uses Chinese-made serving robots.

RGT is a native Korean robot startup that designs, manufactures, and distributes serving robots entirely within Korea. CEO Hojeong Jeong, who majored in Mechatronics Engineering at Chungnam National University, founded the company in 2018 after graduation. Jeong introduced the origin of the company name, saying, "RGT stands for 'Robot Global Team,' meaning a group of people from various nationalities coming together to become a company representing serving robots worldwide." He added, "Our team members are from the U.S., China, India, Pakistan, and we supply serving robots to six countries including the U.S., Japan, Canada, and Malaysia."

When asked about the motivation to enter the serving robot market, CEO Jeong shared an anecdote about his aunt who ran a small business in the U.S. "While I was working on autonomous robots during college, my aunt called me. She lamented that she was on the verge of closing her business due to a shortage of workers and difficulty finding staff. I went to the U.S. to help and experienced the situation firsthand, which was even more severe. It was common for serving staff to quit without notice. Even when sales increased, the situation remained grim for months. Similar issues occur not only in Korea and the U.S. but worldwide. I was convinced that the era of serving robots would soon arrive."

Algety's serving robot 'Sseobot'.

Since 2016, CEO Jeong researched the market and submitted business proposals to investors to develop serving robots. At that time, serving robots were not yet commercialized, so the response was generally cold. Jeong recalled, "Some investors asked if customers wouldn’t be displeased if a robot, rather than a human server, brought their food after paying a high price. Until 2017, I heard 'Will this really work?' the most."

Four months after founding the company, in June 2018, they developed the first-generation serving robot, 'Seobot.' It used a 'line tracer' method that recognized markers attached to the ceiling with sensors to navigate. Jeong admitted, "The line tracer required installing markers on the ceiling one by one, which many complained disrupted the interior. We also made mistakes like making the tray on the robot excessively large, showing a lack of understanding of small businesses."

The second generation of Seobot was released in June 2019, upgraded to a fully autonomous driving system using LiDAR sensors instead of marker recognition. LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) is a sensor that measures the time light takes to hit an object and return, scanning horizontally and vertically to create a 3D map of the surroundings. In 2020, the third-generation product was launched with improved obstacle recognition sensors, cameras, and driving methods. As word spread, more small business owners adopted Seobot, leading to pre-Series A investment and a 4 billion KRW Series A investment in 2021. As of the end of last month, the total accumulated investment reached about 8 billion KRW.

Jung Hojung, CEO of RGT.

RGT has the capacity to manufacture about 2,000 serving robots per month. The third-generation Seobot operates for about 12 hours on a 2.5-hour charge. It moves at 1.2 meters per second and has a maximum load capacity of 135 kg.

Regarding the dominance of Chinese-made robots in the domestic serving robot market, CEO Jeong acknowledged that price competitiveness plays a significant role. Nevertheless, he is confident that domestic robots will eventually be preferred. Jeong explained, "If only serving robots were used, it might not matter, but eventually robots will be integrated with POS systems, call bells, and table ordering. In such cases, foreign companies cannot match the responsiveness of domestic companies that manufacture robots directly and own the software." He added, "We will also have a competitive advantage in after-sales service (A/S) and custom robot manufacturing tailored to each store’s characteristics."

CEO Jeong plans to expand the service robot business to include delivery robots and other areas. The overseas market will be expanded to places like Hong Kong and Vietnam. "From the start, we aimed to be a multinational company. We will grow RGT into a Korean representative service robot company."