AJU IB Investment Participates in Series A Funding for US AI Robotics Startup

Series A Investment in Summer Robotics
Joint Investment with Applied Materials and Naver

On October 14, AJU IB Investment announced that it had participated in a Series A investment round for the US artificial intelligence (AI) robotics startup Summer Robotics.

This round was led by Applied Ventures, the venture capital arm of Applied Materials. Other participants included global technology companies such as Naver and major venture capital firms. Notably, Naver reportedly invested in this round through AJU IB Investment's Solasta Ventures network.

Summer Robotics, headquartered in Silicon Valley and established in 2020, is a startup focused on overcoming limitations of conventional robotic vision systems, such as frame delay and motion blur, to remove barriers to automation.

The company possesses core technology that streams precise 3D data in microseconds in real time, enabling accurate tracking of irregularly moving or complex-shaped objects. This has made it possible to utilize robots even in dynamic and unstructured environments where automation was previously difficult, opening up new possibilities in manufacturing, logistics, and even the humanoid robotics sector.

In particular, Summer Robotics' vision system can replace traditional labor-intensive processes on production lines that require high speed and precision. According to the company, a single robot equipped with its vision system can save more than $75,000 (approximately 100 million won) in annual labor costs per worker, while also improving productivity and accuracy.

The company is also actively recruiting talent. Recently, Rick Van Valkenburg was appointed as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). CCO Valkenburg is a machine vision and automation expert with 28 years of experience at Perceptron.

Meanwhile, Solasta Ventures' Silicon Valley branch is currently undergoing incorporation procedures, with the corporate name set to become Solasta Nexus. Solasta Ventures Silicon Valley has focused on discovering innovative companies in AI and deep tech, and has invested in promising global companies such as SpaceX, the space exploration company founded by Elon Musk; Rescale, an AI-based high-performance computing (HPC) platform provider; and Cohere, a global AI company.

Based on this, AJU IB Investment is in the process of establishing a dedicated fund, the Solasta Nexus Frontier Tech Fund, with a target size of about 50 billion won. Once the fund is established, the company expects to accelerate its overseas investment expansion.

Michael Jeon, head of the Solasta Nexus branch and the person in charge of the Summer Robotics investment, said, "Summer Robotics is a company that combines outstanding deep tech-based robotics vision technology with strong growth potential, and we expect significant results in the future. In particular, with the participation of Naver, a global ICT company, as an investor, strategic connections with the Korean market are also noteworthy."