LG Acquires Majority Stake in Bear Robotics To Bolster Robotics Capabilities
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By News Reporter
Strategic Move to Accelerate Growth in European HVAC Market and Beyond
SEOUL, June 30, 2025 — LG Electronics (LG) has signed an agreement to acquire a 100 percent stake in OSO, one of Europe’s leading providers of water heating solutions. The strategic acquisition will further fortify LG’s comprehensive heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) portfolio – a core growth engine of its B2B business – and accelerate the company’s ambition to become a top-tier player in the HVAC industry.
Founded in 1932, OSO offers a complete range of water heating solutions, including electric water heaters, stainless steel thermal storage systems for heat pumps and boilers, and other advanced water heating technologies. A recognized market leader, OSO has firmly established its presence in Europe’s USD 15 billion heating and hot water solutions market.
Driving Growth Through Integrated HVAC and Water Heating Solutions
Europe is witnessing a rapid rise in demand for air-to-water heat pump (AWHP) systems – technologies that provide heating, cooling and hot water by extracting heat from ambient air. This growth is being driven by the region’s climate policies and energy security concerns.
According to
link hidden, please login to view, the European heat pump market is expected to double by 2030, with annual unit sales increasing from approximately 1.2 million in 2024 to 2.4 million by the start of the next decade. By combining OSO’s product lineup with LG’s advanced heat pump technologies, the acquisition creates immediate synergies. This integration will further enhance LG’s ability to deliver complete HVAC solutions, strengthen its competitiveness in Europe and support its broader global expansion strategy. LG plans to offer integrated HVAC and water heating packages that deliver optimized solutions tailored to diverse customer needs. Furthermore, LG will combine its R&D and heat pump expertise with OSO’s deep product knowledge to broaden and elevate its overall HVAC solution portfolio.
OSO’s Stainless Steel Hot Water Solution Lead the European Market
Hot water systems designed for heat pumps are typically made from either enamel or stainless steel. While enamel was historically favored, stainless steel is now preferred due to its superior hygiene and resistance to corrosion.
OSO’s stainless steel hot water solutions boast excellent energy efficiency and minimal heat loss – key advantages that have helped the company secure a leading position in Europe. With manufacturing facilities in Norway and Sweden, OSO ensures a timely and stable supply of high-quality products across the region. The company’s early adoption of automated manufacturing processes has also enabled exemplary product quality and cost competitiveness.
LG aims to build on these capabilities by jointly pursuing manufacturing innovation with OSO, enhancing automation and productivity through its own 60+ years of production expertise. The integration of both companies’ networks and infrastructure is expected to unlock powerful synergies.
Following the acquisition, OSO will continue to operate independently, retain its existing OEM partnerships and pursue new growth opportunities – while benefiting from LG’s global scale and resources.
Accelerating Growth with LG’s “3B” Strategy: Build, Borrow, Buy
In late 2024, LG established the ES Company to accelerate growth in its HVAC business. With an ambitious goal to outpace industry growth in the cleantech sector, the ES Company offers a comprehensive HVAC portfolio spanning residential and commercial air conditioners to large-scale chillers.
LG is also pioneering the digital transformation of HVAC, applying AI-powered technologies to next-generation solutions for data centers, nuclear facilities and mega factories.
To drive this growth, LG’s HVAC business is actively implementing a “3B Strategy”: building internal capabilities, borrowing external expertise and buying through strategic acquisitions. The OSO deal exemplifies this approach and underscores LG’s commitment to expanding its B2B footprint through mergers, acquisitions and partnerships.
“LG’s deep know-how in Heat Pump Water Heaters in combination with OSO stainless steel tank leadership will ensure sustainable, high-quality product solutions for our customers,” said Sigurd Braathen, Owner of OSO Group AS.
“OSO’s proven water heating solutions are a strategic catalyst for LG’s HVAC expansion,” added James Lee, president of the LG ES Company. “Together, we will deliver highly efficient, integrated solutions that strengthen our market leadership and support global electrification for a more sustainable future.”
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By News Reporter
Company to Gain Deeper Insights Into Customers’ Lifestyle and Usage Patterns and
Accelerate LG ThinQ AI Home Business
SEOUL, July 3, 2024 — LG Electronics (LG) recently acquired an 80 percent stake in Athom, an industry-leading smart home platform company based in Enschede, Netherlands. The agreement includes plans to acquire the remaining 20 percent within the next three years. This strategic move aims to enhance LG’s connectivity within open smart home ecosystems. By integrating Athom’s capabilities with LG’s Affectionate Intelligence technology, LG aspires to lead the AI-driven home innovation era.
LG plans to integrate Athom’s extensive connectivity – which links thousands of appliances, sensors and lighting devices – with the generative AI-enabled LG ThinQ platform. This integration aims to create an AI home that delivers optimal space solutions by gaining a deeper understanding of the customer. In LG’s AI home, customers will engage with generative AI, which will manage appliances and IoT devices to create a personalized environment tailored to their preferences.
LG envisions expanding the differentiated customer experience of AI homes to various spaces where customers spend their time, such as commercial spaces and mobility environments, ultimately realizing and advancing the concept of ‘Intelligent Space.’
Athom is a technology company that sells the smart home hub ‘Homey,’ which connects with home appliances and IoT devices, and also offers cloud subscription services. Founded in 2014, ‘Homey’ has expanded primarily in Europe over the past decade, gaining a loyal customer base of hundreds of thousands of users. As of 2023, Homey devices are available in Australia, Singapore, the US and Canada, in addition to Europe.
Athom has developed its own hub and OS to create an independent smart home ecosystem. Its flagship product, Homey Pro, can connect to more than 50,000 devices and supports various connection methods, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Matter and Thread, making it highly versatile and open.
The Homey App Store, managed by Athom, offers around 1,000 applications for connecting and controlling home devices from brands such as Philips Hue and IKEA. Many of these applications are based on official partnerships, alongside a large number of apps developed by the Homey community. This community of developers actively contributes to Athom’s open platform, continuously expanding the range of brands and devices that can be connected to the hub. Users can easily create a smart home environment by downloading apps from the store and linking their devices.
LG is poised to significantly enhance the scalability required for implementing AI homes, aiming to achieve the highest industry standards. This will be accomplished by integrating its LG ThinQ platform’s smart home technology with Athom’s open ecosystem and IoT device connectivity. The acquisition of Athom is particularly noteworthy, as it will enable LG to incorporate third-party devices and services into its ecosystem. This integration will provide LG with deeper insights into customer usage patterns and expedite the delivery of personalized services.
“The acquisition of Athom is a cornerstone for our AI home business,” said Jung Ki-hyun, executive vice president and head of LG’s Platform Business Center. “By leveraging the synergy between the two companies, we will expand our open ecosystem and external integration services, aiming to provide customers with more diverse and multidimensional space experiences.”
Even after the acquisition, Athom will continue to operate independently, maintaining its business operations and branding. This strategy is designed to maximize Athom’s growth potential and unique strengths while fostering synergies in business, research and development capabilities, and platform utilization.
LG’s introduction of the AI home, which integrates Athom’s open smart home platform with its own AI technology, underscores the company’s commitment to transitioning from a hardware-focused to a software-based platform business. In 2021, LG expanded its TV business from hardware to software by entering the TV platform market with its webOS platform. To support this shift, LG acquired Alphonso, a US-based global technology company specializing in television media, machine learning and big-data analytics. Alphonso now operates as LG Ad Solutions, a core component of the webOS content and service business.
LG aims to establish continuous relationships with customers through numerous devices connected to the AI home, ultimately transforming into a ‘Smart Life Solution Company’ that provides differentiated value.
According to market research firm TechNavio, the global smart home market is projected to grow from USD 81.2 billion in 2023 to USD 260.24 billion by 2028, with an average annual growth rate of 26.23 percent.
“LG is evolving into an intelligent space solutions company that connects and expands experiences in various living spaces. We will continue to make strategic investments to shift our business paradigm, as evidenced by our successive entries into platform-based appliance services and solutions such as the webOS advertising platform and AI home,” said William Cho, CEO of LG Electronics.
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By News Reporter
Company Aims to Lead Shift to Software-Defined Robotics
SEOUL, Mar. 12, 2024 — LG Electronics (LG) is making a strategic investment move to expedite the advancement of its capabilities in service robotics, a key new business area of the company.
LG has executed a stock purchase agreement to acquire a stake in Bear Robotics, a prominent Silicon Valley-based startup specializing in AI-driven autonomous service robots, through an investment of USD 60 million.
Rather than seeking short-term returns, this strategic investment is aimed at bolstering LG’s portfolio for long-term growth. Upon closing the stock purchase, the company will hold the largest portion of shares in Bear Robotics on a single-shareholder basis.
At CES 2024, LG’s CEO William Cho had discussed such potential equity investments, stating, “In the service robotics market, we’re focusing primarily on areas such as delivery and logistics. However, we are carefully considering future directions, keeping open the possibility of equity investments or mergers and acquisitions.”
Founded in 2017 under the leadership of CEO John Ha, a former Senior Software Engineer and Technical Lead at Google, Bear Robotics has gained recognition for its AI-powered indoor delivery robots catering to markets in the United States, South Korea and Japan. The company boasts a team of skilled engineers, including its co-founder and CTO, with backgrounds in prominent tech companies. Notably, Bear Robotics is drawing attention for its expertise in platformizing service robotics software, robot fleet management technology and cloud-based control solutions.
Leading the Shift to Software-Defined Robotics and Enhancing Synergy in Robot Business
LG is preparing for a transition towards Software-defined Robotics (SDR), a shift from hardware to software emphasis, similar to what has been observed in the mobility industry. In anticipation of future growth, the company is committed to developing scalable service robots on an open architecture software platform so that it may cater to a variety of environments, recognizing the critical importance of standardizing AI-based autonomous robot platforms. With this understanding, LG views this strategic investment as a pivotal opportunity to propel its robot business capabilities.
With years of experience in the robot business, LG has accumulated expertise in deploying robot solutions across various commercial spaces such as airports, hotels, restaurants, hospitals, retail stores, museums, smart warehouses and golf courses. LG operates a facility dedicated to the production of service robots at the LG Future Park in Gumi and boasts world-class capabilities in management of quality, supply chain and customer services.
By combining Bear Robotics’ world-class R&D talents and software platform expertise with its own strengths, LG aims to spearhead efforts in standardizing robot platforms to significantly reduce market-entry costs, thereby enhancing operational efficiency and fostering synergies. “Just as Android revolutionized the smartphone era, standardized open platforms are essential for the activation of the robot market,” remarked Bear Robotics CEO John Ha.
Charting a Course for Future Growth in the Service Robotics Market
In recent years, LG has strategically reallocated resources towards high-growth sectors for the future, aligning with market dynamics and the strategic significance of its business models. The investment in Bear Robotics epitomizes LG’s dedication in accelerating the advancement of its service robot sector, a pivotal component of its future growth strategy.
LG has been nurturing its robot business as one of its future core pillars. From the deployment of guide robots at Incheon International Airport in 2017, it has progressively introduced tailored solutions for diverse commercial settings, encompassing delivery and disinfection functionalities. Since the preceding year, LG has actively pursued expansion into international markets including the United States, Japan and Southeast Asia.
The service robotics market is expected to experience rapid growth, propelled by the rapid advancement of technologies such as AI and communication. On a global scale, the market is anticipated to grow from USD 36.2 billion in 2021 to USD 103.3 billion by 2026.
Last year, LG unveiled its Future Vision 2030, outlining its goal of evolving into a Smart Life Solution Company that can seamlessly connect and expand customer experiences across various domains, including home, commercial, mobility and virtual spaces. Aligned with this vision, LG aims to achieve the ‘Triple Seven’ goal: an average growth rate and operating profit of seven percent or more, alongside an enterprise value translating into an EBITDA ratio of seven.
“As the service robot market enters a period of growth, this equity investment will significantly contribute to securing a ‘Winning Competitive-edge’ for the company,” emphasized Lee Sam-soo, chief strategy officer at LG Electronics. “From a mid- to long-term perspective, we will seek to develop our robot business into a new growth engine, exploring various opportunities through the integration of cutting-edge technologies such as Embodied AI and robotic manipulation.”
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By Alex
A ROS-based companion robot built on webOS, It has a big touch head display a body display to show ads, Heads-up Camera, Customized TurtleBot3 Waffle Pi, Intel Neural Compute Stick 2.0 and a RaspberryPI 4. All powered on single board with webOS + ROS webOS Robot Platform. See each change in action, webOS Apps and services communicate with ROS to send commands or read data from sensors Big Bean can read face and react to emotions: Happy Face makes Big Bean happy, Sad Face makes it sad. Big Bean can play games with you and entertain you, Reacts to voice commands and it supports software updates.
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By Alex
LG Signed a deal with
link hidden, please login to view yesterday to bring webOS to new verticals such as automotive, robotics, and the smart home. Very interesting development and a clear expansion of how webOS will be used in the future for not only TVs, projectors, and appliances. Below is the press release from the .
Next-generation webOS operating system will target vehicles, robots and smart devices
IFA, Berlin, GERMANY -- 31 August, 2018 -- Luxoft Holding, Inc (NYSE:LXFT), a global IT service provider, has partnered with LG Electronics Inc., a multinational electronics company, to help create the next generation webOS as part of a strategy to extend its capabilities and ecosystem into the automotive, robotics and smart home verticals.
LG Electronics has previously deployed webOS in over 60 million LG smart TVs and digital signage displays worldwide and this install base is growing rapidly. As a strategic partner, Luxoft is bringing technical assets as well as experience in designing and deploying software platforms for a wide variety of products and services.
“Thanks to our collaboration with Luxoft, we are able to bring webOS into automotive and beyond,” said I.P. Park, Chief Technology Officer at LG Electronics. “Luxoft is providing a substantial technological contribution to webOS and has also greatly enhanced our ability to deploy it into new industries.”
Luxoft will lead the deployment of webOS into the new, targeted sectors, beginning with automotive. Initially focusing on digital cockpit development – which includes infotainment, navigation, and other features that are human-car interaction-centric – Luxoft and LG Electronics also plan to introduce the new platform into the robotics and smart home sectors.
“We’re already leveraging LG Electronics’ thriving smart TV eco-system to customize and enhance webOS so it provides an innovation canvas for car manufacturers to develop next-generation autonomous vehicles,” said Mikael Söderberg, Senior Technical Director, Automotive at Luxoft. “Having access to webOS and its cloud services platform will enable car makers to design and develop better customer experiences for autonomous mobility services.”
With both technology and specific industry expertise, the Luxoft and LG partnership is helping provide more ways for businesses across multiple sectors to digitize.
“Underlying this partnership is a shared desire to make it easier for manufacturers to innovate with technology. This platform gives them the flexibility to make digital changes. This will help accelerate the mobility revolution, improve human-robotic interactions and make smart devices even smarter,” concluded Dmitry Loschinin, President and CEO of Luxoft.
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