[Courtesy of Woowa Brothers]
SEOUL -- The operator of South Korea's top food delivery service Baedal Minjok secured $320 million in fresh foreign capital that would accelerate the development of autonomous mobile robots and a new delivery service abroad. The fintech company plans to launch a delivery app service in Vietnam in the first half of next year.
The investment came from Hillhouse Capital Group, an investment management firm, Sequoia Capital and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC). Hillhouse Capital led a consortium of investors to inject some $50 million into Baedal Minjok in April 2016.
Woowa Brothers said that the new investment underlined the growth and business potential of Baedal Minjok. "It is meaningful because a world-renowned investor recognized the growth potential and future value of our company," Executive Vice president Oh Se-yoon said in a statement.
Woowa Brothers said that with an inflow of fresh foreign capital, it would actively seek its overseas expansion, starting with a delivery service in Vietnam, and the development of autonomous food delivery robots. The company also plans to provide a total solution to small food-related firms for their sales and customer management
Woowa Brothers has developed autonomous robots for restaurants and self-driving food delivery vehicles. Last week, the company partnered with Hyundai Movex, an automated logistics system provider, to develop autonomous delivery robots capable of moving between floors.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
