Doosan Robotics Raises $33.7 Million After Unveiling Robotic Cameras
Doosan Robotics, a South Korean developer of collaborative robot manipulators (cobots), has raised $33.7 million in funding from Praxis Capital Partners and Korea Investment Partners. The company will use the funds to expand its global sales base and strengthen its research and development.
Doosan Robotics also said it plans to hold an initial public offering (IPO) in an effort to become the leader of the global market.
“We look forward to accelerating our business growth with the recently raised funds. We will continue to enhance the competitiveness of new products and software that are based on our patented technology, and we aim to become the number one shareholder in the global cobot market”
Doosan Robotics appointed Ryu as its CEO in August 2021. He previously sat on the company's board of directors and served as vice president of corporate strategy at Doosan Group, which owns Doosan Robotics.
“It is a great honor for me to take on a leadership role at Doosan Robotics and join forces with an incredible team, striving to drive innovation and growth so the company can become number one in the robotics industry. Doosan Robotics is a young and rebellious organization. I am glad to see more flexible methods emerging that will allow us to speed up servicing our products for customers in a market of dizzying pace of change”
Doosan Robotics also announced sales of more than 1,000 cobots in 2021. It was founded in 2015 by Doosan Group, which in turn was founded in 1896 and is today one of the oldest and largest companies in South Korea.
Denmark-based Universal Robots (UR) remains the clear leader in the cobot market. The company told The Robot Report that it is not yet ready to disclose its 2021 sales figures, but since its founding in 2005, UR has sold more than 50,000 cobots worldwide. The current sales split is reported as just under 50% in the EMEA region, about 25% in Asia and about 25% in the Americas. The company's share of the global cobot market remains within 40-50%.
In 2020, Doosan Robotics released four A-series cobots and two more H-series cobots. The company's H series has the highest payload on the market, up to 25 kg. Doosan Robotics said 70% of its sales come from international markets.
Doosan is primarily known for its collaborative robots (cobots), which are used in a wide range of applications, from manufacturing and research to a barista robot that makes coffee. The Dr. Presso robot debuted at the end of last year.
Alongside its funding news, the company also announced the NINA camera system ("New Inspiration. New Angle"). The company calls NINA a "prosumer" system, which likely refers to a relatively button-driven approach to capturing potentially complex shots. This is partly due to features such as object tracking, combined with an open platform that lets users program different shots.
“NINA opens a completely new era for Doosan as we expand our offerings in the entertainment and content space. Our goal was to provide something accessible yet innovative for professional content creators in entertainment, advertising, social media and other related industries, and we are confident NINA will achieve great success in all areas”
Doosan's strategy is based on the "2G" philosophy: Growth of Business by Growth of People. 2G is a virtuous circle in which people drive business growth, which in turn gives people opportunities to advance. Doosan believes that sustainable success can only be achieved through people.
The fast-growing cobot sector continues to develop new applications and capabilities for collaborative robots. South Korea remains a leading innovator in this sector and drives global trends. Doosan Robotics is no exception and is rapidly expanding its market-leading cobot portfolio. For example, backed by significant investment from South Korean giant Doosan Group, the company recently introduced six cobots as part of its new H and A series. Thanks to these innovations, Doosan Robotics now offers 10 models, including the flagship M-series models.
The H series launch stood out for offering the highest payload on the market, up to 25 kg. This is significantly more than existing cobots, which typically support payloads of no more than 10 kg. H cobots also have a 1700 mm reach for greater efficiency.
Alongside its payload, the H has enhanced safety features with best-in-class collision sensitivity, enabled by six torque sensors and a gravity compensation algorithm. With 18 safety functions, the H series has been validated against international requirements and safety certification standards. Its emergency stop functions received the industry's highest PLe, CAT4 ratings.
