When Shin Starr set out to build an autonomous kitchen, he knew the gimmick of robot cooking wouldn’t be a viable business. Shin Starr’s OLHSO Korean BBQ food truck succeeds because it cooks hot, fresh, delicious meals and delivers them at affordable prices.
“At the end of the day, customers don’t care what kind of rocket science is in their truck or in their kitchen,” Kish Shin, co-founder and CEO of Shin Starr, told TechCrunch. “They care about the value they get.”
Chef Han Sung-gil, who runs more than 18 restaurants in South Korea, came to the United States to lead Shin Star’s culinary operations, including a brick-and-mortar restaurant in San Mateo, so expectations are high for his cuisine. I can’t speak from experience whether this food will be a hit or not, but if the food trucks come to TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, I’ll definitely try the Wagyu beef short ribs and tteokbokki. Shin Starr is also part of Startup Battlefield 200 there.
While companies like DoorDash are experimenting with autonomous delivery robots, Singh Starr is doing the opposite. Humans drive the trucks, but the vehicles are equipped with the company’s AutoWalk, a modular, AI-powered robotic system that automates cooking, serving, and cleaning. Once Han prepares the materials, Autowalk will take care of the rest.
While the truck travels on the highway, Shin Star’s robotic system removes the freshly prepared food from the refrigerator and places it on a conveyor belt. It is then placed in a tilted cylindrical canister that rises to high heat, similar to a wok, and rotates to cook the food. After the food is cooked and packaged, the system cleans and disinfects the canister and returns it to the cooking stream.
“It’s designed to serve and cook food along the way,” Singh said. “So, if you order a wagyu dish from your location, and the truck is 15 minutes away, it takes 8 minutes to cook the wagyu (meaning the truck doesn’t start cooking until it’s 7 minutes closer to your location. That way, when you pick up your food, your food is literally freshly cooked.)”
While other robotic kitchen startups have struggled to adapt their products to the market, Shin Star believes it can find its niche at airports. The company plans to open OLHSO micro-restaurants at major California airports soon, and if that goes well, its other airports will be interested in implementing the technology.
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Airport micro-restaurants do not require staffing and can be open 24 hours a day.
“At 11 p.m., all restaurants close, and there’s no food for the next eight hours. Still, 10% of people fly in the U.S. between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.,” said Thin Star CMO Tord Olaf Donham. “This eliminates the need to buy Snickers bars or dry sandwiches from vending machines, and ultimately provides a fresh, high-quality, restaurant-like meal.”
Mr Singh Star selected Mr Gower Smith as CPO. This is a wise hiring decision. There are few people in the world who know more about high-tech automated retail than Mr. Smith. He is a serial entrepreneur in the field, most recently leading Swyft, which partners with companies like Best Buy and CVS to develop high-end vending machines in locations such as train stations and airports. This allows brands to set up shop without expending human effort or a large physical footprint.
Smith said that because micro-restaurants are automated, customers can easily predict how long it will take for the food they order to be ready. This is useful in environments like airports where people may be rushing to catch a flight. Micro-restaurants require regular intervention from human employees to restock refrigerators and prepare food, but otherwise should be able to operate smoothly on their own.
“Airports are the starting point, but it’s also going into hotels. People are hungry at 2 a.m. when they arrive from travel, and they want quality food,” Smith told TechCrunch. “There are a lot of environments that can bring this kind of experience, whether it’s a hospital or a 2 a.m. college campus.”
If you want to learn more about Shin Starr from the company itself, check out dozens of other companies, hear pitches, and hear from guest speakers on four different stages, attend Disrupt in San Francisco from October 27th to 29th. Click here for more information.
