The Korea Playbook for Austin Physical AI Founders
The Korea Playbook for Austin Physical AI Founders
For physical AI, the model is rarely the bottleneck.
It's who builds at volume and who's willing to fund it. China still leads on tooling and hardware, but Korea's industrial economy makes its capital structurally more willing to back long-horizon, capex-heavy robotics than most US venture. That's why Korea is becoming a place to fund and scale physical AI, not just sell into.
About the Event
Antler Korea and US Teams are bringing together founders, investors, and operators working across physical AI, robotics, hardware, and emerging technology in Austin to discuss the state of physical AI in Asia/South Korea and what it means for US startups.
We'll explore where Korea fits into the global physical AI landscape, what makes an Asia strategy credible, and how founders can turn technical advantage into real deployment, commercial partnerships, and scale.
Speakers
Founder & CEO, Contoro Robotics
Mok is the founder and CEO of Contoro Robotics, an Austin-based robotics company building AI-powered robotic systems for logistics and industrial operations.
Contoro Robotics has deployed on real-world logistics deployments in South Korea and recently raised an $84M Series A investment from Coupang, South Korea's largest online retailer.
Mok will share a founder's perspective on moving robotics from development to deployment, why Korean capital is proving more willing to back capex-heavy physical AI, and where he sees Asia's role in the industry heading next.
Partner, Antler Korea
Jiho is a serial entrepreneur and investor who has built companies across Seoul and Silicon Valley. He cofounded YC backed Soomgo(acquired 2024), and BxB which was acquired by Binance.
Today, he backs globally ambitious founders as Partner at Antler Korea and works with international founders exploring Korea’s startup and industrial ecosystem.
What We’ll Get Into
The Asia / Korea Landscape
Where China still leads, tooling, PCBs, hardware volume, and where Korea's edge is forming instead: patient, industrial capital for physical AI.Capturing the Opportunity
What makes an Asia strategy credible to an investor versus simply another slide in the deck, and why Korean capital is often more willing to underwrite long-horizon, capex-heavy robotics than typical US venture.From Technology to Deployment
Where founders lose six months, what it takes to move from technical validation to real-world deployment, and whether founders need to be on the ground in Asia or can succeed with the right network and read on where the industry is headed.
Who This Is For
Founders building physical AI, robotics, hardware, and semiconductor products, from pre-seed through Series A
Technical leads and operators responsible for manufacturing, deployment, or business development
Investors and ecosystem operators tracking applied deep tech in Austin
Founders exploring enterprise pilots, industrial partnerships, or expansion into Asia
This is not designed as a beginner-level AI overview or a general mixer.
Event Details
Date: Thursday, September 17, 2026
Time: 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM CDT
Location: Antler Austin, 600 Congress Ave, 14th Floor
Language: English
Food and drinks will be provided!
What Happens
6:00 PM — Doors open, food, drinks & networking
6:20 PM — Welcome
6:30 PM — Physical AI, Korea & the Asia opportunity
6:45 PM — Founder conversation with Yun Mok and Jiho Kang
7:15 PM — Open networking
8:30 PM — Event close
About Antler
Antler is a global venture capital firm that helps exceptional founders build Further, Faster.
Operating across 27 locations worldwide, Antler has supported and invested in more than 1,800 startups and was ranked the world’s most active early-stage investor by PitchBook in both 2024 and 2025.
Its global portfolio includes Airalo, Lovable, PixVerse, Wrtn, Sona, Salmon, Reebelo, Reditus Space, Imitation Machines, Standard Electron, and Type I Compute, spanning AI, enterprise software, robotics, semiconductors, aerospace, and other frontier technologies.
Antler supports founders from initial investment through customer introductions, market validation, global expansion, and follow-on funding.