The Asia-Pacific region, aside from China’s much-publicized rise, is home to a vibrant and diverse ecosystem of robotics and artificial intelligence startups. Across Japan, South Korea, Singapore, India, Australia, and Southeast Asia, founders are building machines that sense, move, and learn—serving industries as varied as healthcare, agriculture, logistics, and education. This article delves into a selection of these startups, mapping their technical focus, funding landscapes, and target markets, and highlighting the unique approaches they bring to the global robotics conversation.
Japan: From Industrial Roots to Social Robotics
Japan’s reputation as a robotics powerhouse is well-earned, with a legacy stretching back to the earliest industrial robots of the late 20th century. Today, Japanese startups are branching out from factory automation into service robotics, healthcare, and even emotional AI.
Preferred Networks: AI and Deep Learning at Scale
Tokyo-based Preferred Networks is a standout, focusing on deep learning applications for robotics and IoT. Founded in 2014, the company has attracted significant investment—reportedly over $140 million from partners such as Toyota and FANUC.
Their core technology enables industrial robots to adapt to dynamic environments, making factories more flexible and responsive to market changes.
Preferred Networks’ collaboration with Toyota aims to bring intelligent mobile robots into the home, a move that could redefine elder care and domestic assistance in Japan’s aging society.
GITAI: Redefining Remote Work—In Space
Another Tokyo-based startup, GITAI, is developing remotely operated and autonomous robots for space stations, lunar bases, and terrestrial disaster areas. Their robots have already been tested on the International Space Station (ISS), showcasing precise manipulation and telepresence capabilities. GITAI’s $30 million Series B round in 2022, led by SPARX Innovation, underlines strong investor confidence in robotics for space and extreme environments.
South Korea: Rapid Automation and Smart Logistics
South Korea’s strong manufacturing base and government support have fostered a new generation of robotics startups, particularly in logistics and mobility.
Bear Robotics: Serving Up Automation
Founded in Silicon Valley by Korean engineers, but with deep ties to Seoul, Bear Robotics develops autonomous food service robots now deployed in restaurants across Korea, Japan, and the United States. The company raised over $80 million in funding, including a significant round from South Korea’s SoftBank in 2022.
Bear Robotics’ flagship robot, Servi, navigates crowded dining rooms, delivering food and drinks efficiently and safely, freeing up human staff for more complex interactions.
This blend of AI-driven navigation and human-centric design exemplifies Korea’s approach: automation without alienation.
Riiid: AI Tutoring for All
Edtech and robotics merge at Riiid, a Seoul-based startup that uses AI to personalize education. Their platform leverages deep learning to adapt content and pacing for individual students, with applications in test prep and language learning. Riiid’s expansion into Japan, Vietnam, and the US, backed by $70+ million in funding, demonstrates the region’s exportable AI expertise beyond hardware.
Singapore: Robotics as a Service and Urban Solutions
Singapore’s strategic push to become a Smart Nation has spurred public and private investment in robotics, especially for urban and service applications.
SESTO Robotics: Autonomous Mobile Robots for Industry
SESTO Robotics specializes in Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) for manufacturing and healthcare. Their robots seamlessly navigate hospitals and factories, transporting materials and automating repetitive tasks. SESTO has secured funding from SEEDS Capital and Wavemaker Partners, and their solutions are now deployed in Southeast Asia and Europe.
SESTO’s platform is designed for plug-and-play integration, reducing deployment time and enabling smaller businesses to adopt automation.
Oneberry Technologies: Security and Surveillance AI
Addressing the city-state’s security needs, Oneberry Technologies uses robotics and AI to automate surveillance. Their mobile robots patrol industrial estates and critical infrastructure, equipped with real-time threat detection. Oneberry’s solutions are now being trialed in Malaysia and Indonesia, with funding from both government and private investors.
India: Robotics for the Masses and Rural Transformation
India’s robotics startups reflect the country’s unique challenges—vast rural populations, fragmented infrastructure, and a need for affordable solutions. Here, robots are built to address both urban and rural needs, often with a focus on agriculture, healthcare, and logistics.
GreyOrange: Smart Warehousing at Scale
Headquartered in Gurugram, GreyOrange develops AI-powered warehouse robots and fulfillment solutions. Their customers include Flipkart, Alibaba, and Walmart, and the company has raised over $170 million from investors such as Mithril Capital and Blume Ventures.
GreyOrange’s robots optimize picking, sorting, and storage, handling millions of packages daily in some of the world’s largest warehouses.
Their international expansion to North America, Europe, and Japan showcases India’s growing influence in logistics automation.
Fasal and TartanSense: Precision Agriculture
Fasal leverages IoT and AI for precision agriculture, helping Indian farmers monitor crops and optimize irrigation. Their platform has attracted seed funding from Omnivore and Wavemaker Partners.
TartanSense takes a robotics-first approach—building small, affordable field robots that use computer vision to identify and remove weeds in real time. This reduces herbicide use and increases yields, directly benefiting smallholder farmers. TartanSense has secured over $7 million in funding and is scaling across South Asia.
Australia: Frontier Robotics for Harsh Environments
Australia’s robotics startups often focus on mining, agriculture, and defense, leveraging the country’s vast distances and challenging terrain.
Fastbrick Robotics: Automated Construction
Fastbrick Robotics (FBR), based in Perth, has developed the Hadrian X, a truck-mounted robot that automates bricklaying for houses and commercial buildings. The system uses laser-guided technology to lay thousands of bricks per day with millimeter precision.
FBR’s approach promises to revolutionize construction in remote and disaster-affected areas, where skilled labor is scarce.
The company has secured more than AUD 50 million in capital and is piloting projects in Australia and the Middle East.
Agerris and SwarmFarm: Smart Farming Down Under
Agerris, spun out of the University of Sydney, builds autonomous robots for fruit and vegetable farms, integrating AI for crop monitoring and autonomous harvesting. Meanwhile, SwarmFarm Robotics focuses on swarm robotics—deploying fleets of small, collaborative robots for tasks like weeding and spraying. Both startups have raised multi-million dollar rounds and are helping Australian agriculture become more productive and sustainable.
Southeast Asia: Leapfrogging with Service and Delivery Robots
In countries like Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand, robotics startups are emerging to tackle urban congestion, last-mile delivery, and food service automation.
OttoBot by OTSAW: Last-Mile Delivery in Singapore and Beyond
Singapore-based OTSAW Digital has developed the OttoBot, an autonomous delivery robot now piloted in malls and business districts. With secure compartments and facial recognition for pick-up, OttoBot is designed for densely populated urban environments. OTSAW has raised Series A funding from local and international VCs, and is exploring deployment in Dubai and the US.
RobotBank: Automation in Southeast Asian Kitchens
Vietnam’s RobotBank builds affordable kitchen robots to automate repetitive food preparation tasks. Their machines are already in use in fast-growing local chains, helping to standardize quality and reduce costs. RobotBank has received angel and seed funding, and is now seeking Series A to expand regionally.
The Funding Landscape: From Angels to Mega-Rounds
The Asia-Pacific robotics ecosystem is shaped by a diverse funding landscape:
- Early-stage innovation is supported by regional VCs like Wavemaker Partners (Singapore), Omnivore (India), and Artesian (Australia).
- Corporate venture arms of conglomerates (e.g., Toyota, SoftBank, Tata) are active in later-stage rounds, offering not just capital but commercial partnerships.
- Government grants and challenge funds, especially in Singapore, South Korea, and Australia, provide non-dilutive support for R&D and market entry.
- Cross-border investment is increasingly common, with Japanese, Indian, and Southeast Asian startups attracting funding from US and European investors.
While China’s robotics juggernaut often dominates headlines, the rest of Asia-Pacific is quietly building the next generation of robotics unicorns, supported by a maturing investment ecosystem.
Tech Focus and Market Dynamics
The region’s startups often differentiate themselves through deep specialization:
- Service and social robots in Japan and Korea address aging populations and labor shortages.
- Logistics and fulfillment robots thrive in India and Australia, where e-commerce and mining require scalable automation.
- Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) in Singapore and Southeast Asia are tailored to dense urban environments and last-mile delivery.
- Agricultural robotics in India and Australia respond to the need for sustainable food production and rural transformation.
- AI-powered edtech is emerging as a major export from Korea and India, targeting global education markets.
Many of these startups are “born global”, with ambitions—and often customers—spanning multiple continents from day one. Their solutions are frequently designed for affordability and modularity, reflecting local market constraints and the need for rapid deployment.
Challenges and Opportunities
Despite the region’s dynamism, Asia-Pacific robotics startups face several hurdles:
- Fragmented regulatory environments can slow cross-border expansion and complicate product certification.
- Access to skilled talent is a persistent challenge, particularly in countries with nascent AI and robotics education pipelines.
- Long enterprise sales cycles require patient capital and strong local partnerships.
Yet, the opportunities are equally compelling. Asia-Pacific’s rapidly urbanizing populations, aging societies, and booming e-commerce sectors create natural demand for robotics. As funding matures, and as startups prove their products in local markets, the region is poised to produce robotics champions with global impact.
The story of Asia-Pacific robotics is not one of catching up, but of leapfrogging—creating new paradigms for how robots serve, move, and interact in the world’s most diverse and dynamic societies.
