00:00korea's startup funding landscape is shifting toward physical ai robots are moving out of
00:05factories and into the last mile including the doorsteps of elderly islanders three moves this
00:10week show where founders should look it's tuesday october 27th let's look at what this means for
00:15startups and entrepreneurs in korea autonomous delivery robots are now being tested on islands
00:19where drones alone could not reach the final door field robotics is launching a 30-day pilot
00:24in yusu with a target of 120 delivery missions and 300 handoffs meanwhile a korean fintech adjacent
00:31player is betting on a fast-growing category operations specialist for robot as a service
00:35platforms here's what the numbers show field robotics selected in june by the ministry of
00:40smes and startups will run its carrybot pro across island routes in yusu the ministry is weighing a
00:46two-year plus extension and expansion to other islands if the three rounds succeed korea's
00:51drone delivery pilots are now pairing aerial drones with ground robots splitting the route
00:55into a handoff at a docking station meanwhile 58.2 percent of korean firms report a shortage of
01:01specialized talent for physical ai according to a march survey by the korea industrial technology
01:06association so what does this mean for founders weighing entry into korea's robotics market this
01:11year earlier we said that the last mile was the real opening here's what that actually means for
01:16you drones handle distance but robots win the final doorstep and that gap is where new
01:20startups can build defensible businesses the talent gap is a double-edged sword it raises the
01:25cost of hiring but it also rewards founders who can build with robot raw subscription models in mind
01:31for founders the question is not whether robots will reach the doorstep the question is who will
01:36own the platform that runs them watch three things the 30-day yusu pilot results the ministry's
01:42decision on extending the program and the next round of physical ai hiring from the large conglomerates
01:47that's today's ai prism founders this episode was produced with ai assistance based on seoul economic
01:53daily reporting ai prism is a juan ifra award-winning series we'll be back tomorrow
02:00tomorrow
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