What’s the deal? South Korean fintech company Finger said on 7 August 2026 it will acquire a 79.48% stake in Mikkello Robotics, a developer of industrial robot engines, for 15.97 billion won. The purchase covers 487,505 common and preferred shares and makes Finger the startup’s largest shareholder.
The terms. The stake equals 23.64% of Finger’s total assets and 20.57% of its equity, based on consolidated figures at the end of 2025. Finger will raise 7.5 billion won of the price through a rights issue targeting Mikkello’s core shareholders.
What’s the endgame? Finger wants to enter the physical AI market and diversify beyond fintech. It plans to combine Mikkello Robotics’ physical AI, robot path generation, and manufacturing automation technology with its own cloud, platform, ERP, data, and AI agent tools.
Why now? Finger framed the deal as a move to secure future growth engines. The company said it will pursue manufacturing digital transformation and robot software businesses based on the combined technology.
Mikkello Robotics’ existing management will continue to run the company after the acquisition, Finger said.
The signal. A fintech firm buying a robotics startup underscores how physical AI — software that controls machines in the real world — is drawing buyers from outside the sector. For Finger, it marks a bet that manufacturing automation, not payments, is where the next growth lies.
Read more: eDaily
Image credit: jurvetson
