Japan-based experiential robotics technology developer Telexistence has secured billions of yen (¥1bn = $8.8m) in series A funding from investors including corporates Global Logistic Properties (GLP), KDDI, Airbus, JTB and Maeda Industry.
Logistics service GLP, telecoms firm KDDI, aerospace manufacturer Airbus, travel agency JTB and syringe maker Maeda were joined by financial services firms Mitsubishi UFJ and Mizuho Bank, University of Tokyo’s Innovation Platform and national innovation agency Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST).
GLP, Airbus, KDDI and Mizuho invested through telematics subsidiary Monoful and corporate venturing units KDDI Open Innovation Fund, Airbus Ventures and Mizuho Capital respectively.
Founded in 2017 as a spinout of University of Tokyo, Telexistence is working on remote-controlled robots that enable their users to experience the robot’s field-of-view and sense of touch through devices such as virtual reality goggles and smart gloves.
The robots are designed to let humanity experience remote areas without space-time constraints, for purposes such as tourism, while also automating tasks such as retail display work and logistics operations.
Telexistence has built a prototype, dubbed Model-H, and is preparing to develop a robot suited to mass production. The series A capital will help it progress its underlying technologies, which include hardware and software as well as communication and cloud capabilities.
JST previously backed a seed round of undisclosed size for Telexistence in May 2017 along with KDDI Open Innovation Fund and venture capital firm Global Brain, which has a fund-of-funds partnership with KDDI.
Image courtesy of Telexistence Inc. The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.