AIDIN Robotics raises KRW 16 billion from HD Hyundai Robotics and Samsung Ventures to build a shipyard robot hand
Korean force and tactile sensor maker AIDIN Robotics said it raised KRW 16 billion in strategic investment from HD Hyundai Robotics and Samsung Venture Investment, announced on Sept 11. HD Hyundai Robotics said in a press release that its share was KRW 13 billion and that the two companies will co-develop a five-fingered hand for shipbuilding and heavy industry, later to be fitted to the humanoid it is developing, plus force-controlled grinding and polishing robots for hull work.
AIDIN Robotics, a Korean maker of force/torque and tactile sensors for robots, has raised KRW 16 billion in strategic investment from HD Hyundai Robotics and Samsung Venture Investment, the company said in an announcement dated Sept 11 that it carries in the news section of its website. HD Hyundai Robotics said in its own press release that it invested KRW 13 billion on Sept 11 and took an equity stake. Neither side disclosed a valuation or the size of the stake.
Two partners, one sensor bet
By MEKAWIRE's calculation, the two statements leave about KRW 3 billion for Samsung Venture Investment (KRW 16 billion total minus KRW 13 billion from HD Hyundai Robotics); Samsung's own figure was not published. AIDIN said the money goes into mass-production equipment for force/torque sensors, a quality verification system and more R&D staff.
- 2026-05-14
- WIRobotics
- Series B
- not disclosed
- JB Investment
- 2026-07-13
- Holiday Robotics
- Series A
- $105M
- not stated
- 2026-08-28
- Wonik Robotics
- Convertible preferred
- not in USD
- Korea Development Bank
- 2026-09-11
- AIDIN Robotics
- Strategic
- KRW 16bn
- HD Hyundai Robotics (KRW 13bn), Samsung Venture Investment
- 2026-10-15
- Hurotics
- Series A (reported)
- KRW 25bn
- Atinum Investment
Samsung Venture Investment share = KRW 16bn total minus KRW 13bn from HD Hyundai Robotics (MEKAWIRE calculation). Hurotics figure is reported, not company-confirmed.
As of Oct 15, 2026
What HD Hyundai Robotics wants from a sensor startup
The two companies will first co-develop force-controlled robots for surface treatment, the grinding and polishing of hull shell plates and block weld seams that shipyards still do largely by hand because every workpiece is shaped differently. HD Hyundai Robotics said the solution will be proven in its group's shipyards, extended to Korean manufacturing and later offered to overseas sites including U.S. shipyards. The second project is a heavy-duty five-fingered hand for shipbuilding and heavy industry that HD Hyundai Robotics plans to fit to the humanoid robot it is developing. AIDIN's second-generation hand, shown at Automation World in Seoul in March, has 16 degrees of freedom, a 20 kg payload and tactile sensors across its front face, according to an Industry Daily report the company republishes.
MEKAWIRE analysis: HD Hyundai is buying early access to a humanoid hand
The stake reads less as a financial bet than as a supply lock on the part of a humanoid that is hardest to source: a hand that can feel force.
AIDIN is a named partner in one of the two state physical-AI projects worth a combined KRW 98.9 billion that Doosan Robotics won on Oct 6, and in April it became the first Korean distributor of Rainbow Robotics' RB-Y1 wheeled humanoid. That puts the same sensor supplier inside programmes run by two rival Korean robot makers. MEKAWIRE's records show Korean robotics rounds in 2026 remain small by global standards: Holiday Robotics' $105 million Series A in July is the only one this year with a disclosed dollar amount above $100 million.
What to watch
The first signal is whether HD Hyundai Robotics shows the jointly developed hand on its own humanoid, which it has not yet unveiled. The second is AIDIN's revenue: chief executive Lee Yun-haeng told a Korean outlet in March that the company was targeting KRW 8 billion in sales for 2026, a figure that has not appeared in any filing.
- not disclosed
- KRW 16 billion (AIDIN Robotics)
- force/torque sensor mass-production lines, quality verification, R&D hiring
- five-fingered heavy-duty hand for HD Hyundai's humanoid; force-controlled grinding and polishing for hulls
- KRW 13 billion, invested Sept 11, 2026
- about KRW 3 billion (MEKAWIRE calculation, not disclosed)