Bone AI raises $12M to challenge Asia’s defense giants with AI-powered robotics (techcrunch.com)

Seoul- and Palo Alto–based Bone AI has raised a $12M seed round led by Third Prime with participation from Kolon Group, while founder DK Lee personally committed roughly $1.5M. Launched earlier this year, Bone already reported $3M in first-year revenue, a seven-figure B2G contract, selection for a government end-to-end logistics program, and the acquisition of drone maker D-Makers to accelerate product and IP integration. The startup’s stated mission is to build a unified “Physical AI” platform that ties AI simulation, autonomy algorithms, embedded software, hardware design and volume manufacturing into a single stack, initially fielding defense-focused aerial drones (logistics, wildfire detection, anti-drone) before expanding to ground and marine autonomous vehicles. For the AI/ML community this is notable on multiple fronts: Bone targets the oft-missing connective tissue between learning-based autonomy and industrial hardware at scale, leveraging a “buy vs. build” M&A strategy plus Kolon’s materials/manufacturing expertise to shorten time-to-deploy. Technically, an integrated autonomy stack spanning UAVs, UGVs and USVs could enable shared perception, planning and simulation workflows across domains, simplify validation/verification for safety-critical B2G use, and help South Korea build sovereign supply chains for robotic AI. If successful, Bone could seed a new class of Asia-based defense robotics firms and shift competitive dynamics in multipolar, reindustrializing markets.