Bear Robotics
Bear Robotics builds autonomous robots for food service and hospitality businesses. The Redwood City-based company has raised $176M, most recently in a Series C round in March 2024, and employs 268 people.
The growth story
Bear Robotics grew from 231 to 268 employees between 2022 and 2026, raising $176M along the way, most recently a Series C in March 2024.
About
Bear Robotics sells self-driving robots that assist staff in restaurants and hotels. The machines are designed to be quickly deployed and work alongside human employees, aiming to improve operational efficiency and service quality.
The company has scaled rapidly since its 2017 founding, reaching 268 employees. Its $176M in funding includes a Series C round closed in March 2024, backed by investors like Cleveland Avenue and IMM.
Founders and leadership
Engineering is Bear Robotics' largest function, accounting for 66 of its 268 employees. The company's leadership team includes founder and CEO John Ha, who previously worked at Google and Samsung.
The Bear Robotics org chart
John Ha (Founder, CEO) leads 60 mapped leaders with 4 direct reports. Click +N to expand a team; names link to the person’s public profile.
Departments, and which ones grew
Headcount by function: Engineering 135 (+7% YoY), Sales 35 (+40% YoY), Operations 16 (+33% YoY), Business Development 16 (+14% YoY), Program and Project Management 9 (+13% YoY), Product Management 8 (+33% YoY).
Talent flow
Bear Robotics recruits heavily from robotics and tech companies, with Kinisi, Samsung, and Google being top sources. Its alumni often move to autonomous vehicle and AI firms, with Waymo, Coupang, and Meta being common destinations.
Most common previous employers of Bear Robotics staff: Kinisi (8), Samsung Electronics (8), Google (7), LG Electronics (7), HP (5), Starship Technologies (4). Former Bear Robotics employees most often moved to Waymo (5), Coupang (4), Meta (4), Apple (4), NVIDIA (3), Google (3).
Alumni worth knowing
The Bear Robotics mafia
Bear Robotics alumni have founded 12 companies, including Sphinx, July AI, and Robot Depot. These startups employ between 7 and 23 people each, focusing on areas like robotics and AI.
12Alexandre Berkovic, was MIT Sloan / Capstone Project – AI Research until 2023Mark Anthony Robles, was Enterprise Partnerships until 2024Jungwon(Jason) Shin, was Embedded Engineering Intern until 2021Joung Joon Kim, was Managing Director, Head of Bear Robotics Singapore until 2024Jong-Won Kim, was Head of Mechatronics lab until 2024
Nikki S., was Sr. Global Controller until 2023
Malachy Ryan, was Head of Sales Emea until 2025
Il-Seok Han, was Software Engineer until 2020
이승훈, was Technical Account Manager until 2026
Yay Shin, was Engineer until 2024Hiring now
Web traffic
Traffic mix: 49% direct, 36% search, 2% social, 1% paid.
What this company is made of
Most common skills at Bear Robotics: Python (Programming Language) (71), Project Management (61), C++ (56), Microsoft Office (54), Leadership (50), Communication (45), Management (41), Linux (37).
Where the team actually sits
Bear Robotics people are concentrated in Seoul, South Korea (45), California, United States (23), San Francisco Bay Area (19), South Korea (16).
Search footprint
Bear Robotics attracts about 997 organic search visits a month, traffic worth roughly $2K a month if bought through ads. It gained 114 ranking keywords and lost 75 in the last period.
What employees say
- Compensation
- 2.80 / 5
- Career opportunities
- 2.60 / 5
- Senior management
- 2.10 / 5
- Work-life balance
- 2.60 / 5
Frequently asked
Bear Robotics has 268 employees as of September 2026.
Bear Robotics has raised $176M in total, most recently a Series C round in March 2024.
Bear Robotics was founded in 2017 by Juan Higueros, Brennand Pierce, John Ha, Fangwei Li.
John Ha (Founder, CEO) sits at the top of Bear Robotics's reporting structure, with 4 direct reports.
The most common previous employers of current Bear Robotics staff are Kinisi (8 people), Samsung Electronics (8 people), Google (7 people).
Former Bear Robotics employees most often move to Waymo (5), Coupang (4), Meta (4).
At least 12 companies have a founder who previously worked at Bear Robotics, including Sphinx, July AI, Robot Depot.
Bear Robotics attracts about 997 organic search visits a month, worth roughly $2K a month in equivalent ad spend.
The most common skills among Bear Robotics staff are Python (Programming Language), Project Management, C++, Microsoft Office, Leadership.
Bear Robotics staff are concentrated in Seoul, South Korea (45), California, United States (23), San Francisco Bay Area (19).
Bear Robotics has about 135 people in Engineering, up 7% over the past year, as of September 2026.
Bear Robotics has about 35 people in Sales, up 40% over the past year, as of September 2026.
Computed from 175 current and 241 former Bear Robotics profiles, as of September 2026. Source: Crustdata.
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