Korean manufacturers back Config's $27M seed for robot data platform
Original: Korea’s biggest manufacturers back Config, the TSMC of robot data
Why This Matters
Major Korean manufacturers investing in robot data infrastructure signals Asia's manufacturing-led AI adoption push
Config, a Seoul-based startup building data infrastructure for robotic foundation models, raised $27 million in oversubscribed seed funding led by Samsung Venture Investment. The company positions itself as the TSMC of robot data, serving manufacturers, system integrators, and defense companies.
Config secured $27 million seed funding at over $200 million valuation, bringing total raised to $35 million. Samsung Venture Investment led the round, joined by Hyundai's ZER01NE Ventures, LG Tech Ventures, SKT America, and others. Founded January 2025 by former Meta researcher Minjoon Seo and co-founders from Waymo, Google, and Naver, Config provides data infrastructure for robotic foundation models rather than building robots directly. The startup addresses the challenge that robot training data must be physically collected, making robotics AI costlier than text-based models. Config already generates revenue from large manufacturers, system integrators, agriculture and defense companies seeking proprietary robot AI capabilities.