Kakao Ventures announced on the 5th that it has completed a seed investment in Parallax Worlds, a US-based robotics simulation startup. This round was led by Silicon Valley venture capital firm Pear VC, with participation from local deep-tech investment firms and major domestic companies.
Parallax Worlds is developing a simulation platform that enables robots to train and validate in virtual environments similar to real-world environments before being deployed in industrial settings. By precisely replicating industrial environments like manufacturing plants and logistics warehouses based on the laws of physics, Parallax Worlds enables robots to safely learn through repeated trial and error. This aims to enhance robots' adaptability to their environments and reduce the costs and risks associated with field deployment.
In existing industrial settings, the introduction of robots has often entailed cost burdens and safety issues, such as equipment shutdowns or unexpected shutdowns. Parallax Worlds bridges the sim-to-real (Sim2Real) gap, which arises from data differences between virtual and real environments, lowering the barrier to entry for robot adoption.
The solution is currently being used in industries requiring precision control, such as manufacturing, construction, and welding, and is compatible with existing industrial simulation ecosystems like NVIDIA Omniverse, Unreal, and Unity. Based on its ease of use, the company is expanding its customer base, and following this investment, the company plans to focus on expanding into the Asian market, including Korea, and securing enterprise customers.
Parallax Worlds is a team formed primarily from Professor Feifei Li's lab at Stanford University. The co-founders have extensive experience conducting robotics and AI research at global companies such as NVIDIA, BMW, and Michelin. Their technological capabilities, spanning both academia and industry, are considered a strength.
Through this investment, Kakao Ventures has identified startups possessing core infrastructure technologies applicable to the global robotics and manufacturing industries, and has focused on growth potential centered around the Asian market.
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