Shin Starr’s robotic food truck kitchen will serve up Korean BBQ at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025

Shin Starr is revolutionizing the food truck industry with its autonomous kitchen concept, aimed at delivering delicious Korean BBQ at an affordable price. Co-founder and CEO Kish Shin emphasizes that the focus should be on customer satisfaction rather than the technology itself. “At the end of the day, customers don’t care about the type of rocket science that is in your truck or in your kitchen,” he stated, highlighting the importance of providing value. Leading the culinary team is chef Han Sungil, who boasts experience from over 18 restaurants in Korea. With a brick-and-mortar location in San Mateo, expectations for the food are high. Attendees at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 can look forward to tasting dishes like wagyu galbi and tteokbokki, as Shin Starr is featured in the Startup Battlefield 200. While companies like DoorDash explore autonomous delivery, Shin Starr takes a different approach. A human drives the food truck, but it’s equipped with the “Autowok,” an AI-powered robotic system that automates cooking, serving, and cleaning. Once the ingredients are prepared, the Autowok takes over. As the truck travels, it retrieves fresh ingredients and cooks them in a high-heat, rotating canister, ensuring meals are hot and ready upon arrival. Shin elaborated, “It was designed to be able to serve food and cook en route. So, if you have ordered a wagyu beef dish and the truck is 15 minutes away, it won’t start cooking until it’s seven minutes from you.” Unlike other robotic kitchen ventures that struggle to find their footing, Shin Starr sees potential in airports. They plan to launch an OLHSO micro restaurant in a major California airport and are in talks with other locations. This model allows for round-the-clock service without the need for human staff, addressing the late-night food void at airports. CMO Tord Olav Dønnum noted, “This will finally give you a fresh, high-quality restaurant-type meal, without having to buy a Snickers bar from a vending machine.” Further enhancing their capabilities, Shin Starr has appointed Gower Smith as Chief Product Officer, a strategic move given his extensive expertise in high-tech automated retail. He previously led efforts to create luxury vending machines in strategic locations. Smith highlighted that this automated restaurant model allows for precise order cooking times, which is crucial in fast-paced environments like airports. The micro restaurant does require some human oversight for ingredient restocking, but its automated systems promise to ensure smooth operation. “Airports is where we’ll start, but we’ll expand into hotels and other venues where people crave high-quality meals at odd hours,” Smith added. For those eager to discover more about Shin Starr’s innovations and engage with other startups, the TechCrunch Disrupt event runs from October 27 to 29 in San Francisco. Don’t miss the opportunity to witness this culinary evolution firsthand.