LG's Bear Robotics Readies a $300 Million Pre-IPO Round That Could Lead to Nasdaq

Bear Robotics, the American service-robot company controlled by South Korea's LG Electronics, is preparing a pre-IPO funding round of up to roughly 300 million dollars that could set it on a path to a Nasdaq listing, according to Korean financial media reports on September 7. The reports, citing unnamed investment banking sources, said Bear Robotics has hired Bank of America to lead the round, which would value the company at about 2 trillion won, more than double its valuation from early 2024. LG Electronics, which owns a majority stake in the company, responded with a regulatory statement the same day saying it has not yet made a decision on a foreign listing, a disclosure that left the door open while cautioning that the reports were not yet confirmed.

Key Facts

KED Global, an English-language Korean business outlet, reported on September 7 that Bear Robotics is targeting between 300 billion and 400 billion won in its pre-IPO round, which it summarized as about 300 million dollars, with Bank of America appointed as lead underwriter. The same report said the round is intended to lay the groundwork for an eventual listing on the Nasdaq, and eDaily, a Korean financial news site, reported on September 7 that the target valuation is about 2 trillion won, more than double the roughly 700 billion won valuation attached to the company in March 2024.

The ownership picture explains why the reports moved LG Electronics' share price. eDaily reported on September 7 that LG acquired a 21 percent stake in Bear Robotics for 60 million dollars in March 2024, and that LG's stake had risen to 56.9 percent by the first half of 2026. LG Electronics shares rose 8.44 percent in morning trading on September 7, according to the same report, as investors weighed the prospect of a high-profile robotics listing that would crystallize the value of LG's investment in the company.

Bear Robotics' financial profile is still that of a growth company burning cash. KED Global and eDaily both reported on September 7 that Bear Robotics recorded revenue of 17 billion won for the period from May 7 through December 31, 2025, with a net loss of 42.2 billion won, figures that reflect the company's heavy spending on expansion and research as it scales its robot waiter and service robot products in the United States and beyond.

The company's regulatory response was carefully hedged. eDaily reported on September 7 that LG Electronics issued a disclosure stating that no decision has been made regarding a foreign listing for Bear Robotics, a standard Korean regulatory filing that does not deny the reports outright but commits the company to nothing. The company, founded by Korean-American entrepreneur John Ha, who serves as its chief executive, is headquartered in the United States, which is why a Nasdaq listing would be a natural venue if LG decides to pursue one.

Analysis

What this really means is that LG Electronics is attempting to turn Bear Robotics into a flagship that can ride the robotics investment wave in public markets, and the pre-IPO round is best understood as a pricing exercise ahead of a listing rather than a simple need for capital. Bear Robotics has already raised substantial private funding, and its cash needs at current burn rates could presumably be met with a smaller round. Raising as much as 300 million dollars at a 2 trillion won valuation is about establishing a public-market benchmark, giving early investors a chance to take some money off the table, and giving underwriters and anchor investors a price level to anchor around before an IPO.

The bigger picture here is that LG, like several large technology conglomerates, is betting that service robotics will be one of the defining growth industries of the late 2020s, and that owning a majority stake in a pure-play robotics company gives it more upside and strategic control than building robots inside a sprawling consumer-electronics division. Bear Robotics' core product, an autonomous tray-carrying robot widely used in restaurants, has given the company a real commercial foothold in the United States, and LG appears to want to scale that position into a broader service-robot platform spanning hospitality, healthcare and logistics. A Nasdaq listing would give Bear Robotics its own currency for acquisitions and talent, and it would give LG a liquid, visible stake whose value the market re-prices daily.

The timing matters as much as the numbers. Robotics companies have been among the most active IPO candidates in technology markets over the past year, and investor appetite for automation stories has been strong enough that several firms have gone public or announced plans to do so. The revenue and loss figures reported for 2025, 17 billion won in revenue against a 42.2 billion won net loss, show a company still in its investment phase, and the success of a pre-IPO round at a doubled valuation will depend on investors accepting that narrative. The gap between the reported 2 trillion won target and the company's current financials is a bet on future growth, not a reflection of present profitability.

The regulatory hedge from LG is also a reminder that pre-IPO reporting in Korea frequently outruns corporate decision-making. Investment banks often shop rounds to the press before a company's board has formally approved them, and the sources in the September 7 reports are unnamed precisely because the process is not yet public. Investors should treat the valuation and size figures as indicative rather than final, and the fact that LG felt compelled to issue a disclosure on the same day suggests the reports were taken seriously enough that the company wanted to control the narrative without confirming it.

Why It Matters

For LG Electronics, a successful Bear Robotics round and eventual listing would transform a majority-owned subsidiary from a strategic bet into a measurable driver of shareholder value, and it would give LG a credible answer to investors who have questioned whether the company can generate growth beyond its core appliance and display businesses. For the robotics sector, a 2 trillion won valuation for a company with Bear Robotics' revenue base would set a notable benchmark for how much public-market investors are willing to pay for commercial deployment and recurring revenue in service robotics, as opposed to purely speculative robotaxi or humanoid-robot stories.

For the restaurant and hospitality industry, the significance is more immediate. Bear Robotics is one of the most widely deployed makers of service robots in the United States, and a larger balance sheet would let it expand its fleet, improve its software, and push into new verticals such as healthcare and hospitality more aggressively, which could accelerate the automation of routine service jobs. For South Korea's capital markets, the episode is another sign that Korean technology companies increasingly see US listings as the default route for robotics and AI businesses, a trend that has both benefits and costs for the domestic exchange.

Next Up

The first concrete signal will be whether LG confirms the pre-IPO round in a subsequent disclosure, and at what valuation and size, since the September 7 statements committed the company to nothing. Watch for any announcement from Bear Robotics itself, for filings with US regulators that would accompany a formal fundraising process, and for reports of anchor investors committing to the round. If the round closes near the reported figures, the next milestone would be a confidential IPO filing with the SEC, which typically follows such a financing by six to eighteen months. If the round stalls or the valuation is cut, it will say as much about investor sentiment toward robotics listings as about Bear Robotics specifically.