Bear Robotics Seeks $300M Pre-IPO Funding at $1.5B Valuation

Bear Robotics, the Silicon Valley-based service robotics firm controlled by LG Electronics, is reportedly seeking up to $300 million in pre-IPO financing ahead of a potential Nasdaq listing. Bank of America has been tapped to arrange the round at a $1.5 billion valuation.

The proposed round represents a substantial step up from LG's initial $60 million investment in March 2024. LG subsequently acquired majority control of Bear, integrating its commercial CLOi robot lineup directly into the firm.

Bear has rapidly extended its footprint beyond restaurant service robots into industrial environments. Its Carti platform and low-profile autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) target warehouse and factory material handling, with deployments already underway across LG smart factories.

In June, Bear acquired UK-based Kinisi Robotics, bringing the KR1 wheeled humanoid and manipulation technology into its platform. The transaction added vision-language-action models and foundation-model development to Bear's existing navigation, autonomy, and fleet-management stack.

Having shipped over 16,000 robots across North America, Europe, and Asia, Bear is approaching physical AI with established deployment networks, real-world operating data, and commercial customer relationships already in place.

The capital would support manufacturing expansion, manipulation software development, market entry, and potential acquisitions as physical AI competition accelerates across commercial sectors.

Maintaining Bear as an independently listed entity allows LG to raise capital for robotics expansion while providing investors direct exposure to the industrial automation market.