A daily newsletter summarizing recent activity & interesting start-ups globally
RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – CONSUMER ROBOTICS
- Roobo, developer of intelligent consumer robots, raised $53.5M in a Series B round led by Seven Seas Partners. Link
- Kinova, developer of personal robotics for assistive and service purposes, raised $25M in a Series A round participated by KTB Network, Foxconn Electronics & BDC Capital. Link
- Humatics, developer of control systems for robots that would enable collaborative nature in robots, raised $18M in a Series A round participated by Fontinalis Partners, Airbus Ventures, Lockheed Martin, Intact Financial, Presidio Ventures, Tectonic Ventures and Blue Ivy Ventures. Link
- Petnet, developer of intelligent pet feeding system, raised $3.7M in a Series A round from undisclosed investors . Link
- Furhat Robotics, developer of developing a natural interface for social robotics, raised $2.5M in a Seed round participated by Balderton Capital and LocalGlobe. Link
- Trexo Robotics, developer of a battery operated exoskeleton device, raised $450k in a Seed round from undisclosed investors . Link
- Neato Robotics, developer of robotic home vacuum cleaners, got acquired by Germany-based Vorwerk Group, which had previously invested in the company in 2010. Link
SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND
ABI (2017, Milan) – Autonomous conversational robot that can provide medical assistance for Alzheimer’s disease. It’s communication is powered by IBM Watson and Google Speech services in the backend.
LEADER BOARD – CONSUMER ROBOTICS
Domestic Tasks
Laundroid (1957, Tokyo, $95M) – Develops an autonomous robot that folds laundry. Backed by Panasonic, Daiwa House, University of Tokyo Edge Capital, Shinsei Bank and others.
Petnet (2012, Pasadena, $19M) – Smart pet feeder robot that enables custom feeding and keeps the pet busy. Backed by Grishin Robotics, Kima Ventures, SparkLabs Global Ventures, Launch Capital and iRobot.
iRobot (1990, New Bedford, IPO) – Robotic household appliances such as vacuum cleaner, floor scrubbing robots and gutter cleaning robots. Went public in 2005.
Neato Robotics (2005, Newark, $48.5M, Acq.) – Develops robotic vacuum cleaning devices. Acquired by Vorwerk Group in 2017.
Kiwi666 (2011, Beijing, $9M) – Developer of smart housekeeping and security robots. Backed by Sequoia Capital.
Personal
Roobo (2014, Beijing, $154M) – Company developing intelligent home robots. Backed by iFlyTek and Seven Seas Partners.
UBTech Robotics (2012, Shenzhen, $123M) – Programmable intelligent humanoid robots for consumers. Backed by CDH Fund, Qiming Venture Capital and Citic Securities.
Jibo (2012, Boston, $68M) – Personal social robot that can recognize speech and interact. Backed by Charles River Ventures, Fairhaven Capital Partners, Osage Ventures, RRE Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, Formation 8 Partners, Samsung Venture Investment Corporation, KDDI Corporation, Netposa Technologies, Dentsu Ventures and Fenox Venture Capital.
A.I.Nemo (2014, Beijing, $30M) – Develops a smart robotic companion with telepresence capabilities. Backed by Innovation Works, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Foxconn.
Aldebaran Robotics (2005, Paris, $20M, Acq.) – Develops humanoid robots for personal use. Acquired by Softbank Group for $100M in 2012.
Misty Robotics (2017, Boulder, $11.5M) – Develops personal social robots that can be used at both homes and offices. Backed by Venrock and Foundry Group.
Entertainment
Anki (2010, SF, $157M) – AI based robotic cars used in racing games. Backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures, Two Sigma Ventures and JP Morgan.
Sphero (2010, Boulder, $95.5M) – Smartphone controlled robotic gaming ball. Backed by Foundry Group, Highway12 Ventures, Mercato Partners, Grishin Robotics, and Walt Disney Interactive.
Reach Robotics – (2013, Bristol, $7.5M) – Developer of battle gaming robots. Backed by Qualcomm, TechStars, Kima Ventures, London Venture Partners and others.
Healthcare
Artificial Life Source (2007, Singapore, $54M) – Develops teddy bear shaped personal robot and glove shaped remote interface device. Backed by DB Capital Partners.
Bionik Laboratories (2009, Toronto, IPO) – Develops lower body exoskeleton that enables wheelchair ridden people to regain ability to walking. Went public in 2015.
ReWalk Robotics (2001, Yokneam Illit, IPO) – Exoskeleton that helps in regaining the ability to walk. Went public in 2014.
Ekso Bionics (2005, Richmond, IPO) – Develops bionic exoskeletons for people with paralysis. Went public in 2014.
Kinova (2006, Boisbriand, $25M) – Develops robotic arms that can be used for providing assistance to the disabled or weak. Backed by KTB Network, Foxconn Electronics, BDC Capital and others.
AlterG (2005, Fremont, $23M) – Develops anti-gravity treadmill and wearable bionic leg for rehabilitation purposes. Backed by Oxford Finance, Versant Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank, Astrolabe Ventures and Funk Ventures.
Intuition Robotics (2015, Tel Aviv, $20M) – Develops social robots for companionship for the aging. Backed by iRobot, Maniv Mobility, Bloomberg Beta, and others.
Educational
littleBits (2011, NYC, $60M) – Develops robotic kits which can be snapped together to form interesting creations. Backed by Khosla Ventures, True Ventures, Foundry Group, Two Sigma Ventures and others.
Wonder Workshop (2012, San Mateo, $37M) – Develops robots named Dash and Dot which help in learning robotics. Backed by Charles River Ventures, Madrona Venture Group, GV, WI Harper Group and Maven Ventures.
Makeblock (2011, Shenzhen, $35M) – Open source robot construction and electronic block kits. Backed by Sequoia Capital, Northern Light Venture Capital, Cloud Angel Fund, SOSV and HAX.
Dobot (2014, Guangdong, $13M) – Developer of robotic arms for learning and experimentation. Backed by Shenzhen Capital Group.
RoboRobo (2000, Seoul, $12M) – Develops robot kits and learning courses based on robots. Backed by Zhen Fund and New Oriental.
Zhixiaole (2015, Beijing, $10M) – Develops an AI-based educational robot. Backed by GGV Capital, Qiming Ventures and Yinghua Capital.
Tech Enablers
CloudMinds (2015, Shenzhen, $130M) – Develops cloud computing and AI for robotics. Backed by Foxconn, Walden International, SB China Capital and Kaixuan Capital.
Humatics (2015, Boston, $18M) – Developer of technology for making robots collaborative through microlocation. Backed by Fontinalis, Lockheed Martin, Airbus Ventures, Presidio Ventures, Tectonic Ventures, and others.
ThynkWare Innovation (2013, Mountain View, $10M) – Develops a brain-computer interface for electronic devices and robot control.
Robart (2009, Linz, $4.1M) – Develops autonomous technology used in household robots. Backed by Robert Bosch Venture Capital, Innovacom and Groupe SEB.
RoboCV (2012, Moscow, $3.5M) – Develops a universal navigation system called ‘Autopilot’, for mobile robots. Backed by VTB Capital Investment Management, LETA Capital, I2BF Global Ventures, Columbus Nova Technology Partners and Almaz Capital.
Leader board includes all the top funded, IPO and successfully running bootstrapped companies along with their location, founding year and funding amount.
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