SEB Alliance, the investment arm of small appliances manufacturing conglomerate SEB, has contributed to a €4.5m ($5.3m) funding round for France-based domestic robot developer Keecker, according to Business Insider France.
The round was led by hardware technology startup community Hardware Club, which operates a €25m fund backed by contract manufacturing services provider Foxconn, and included investment firm A Plus Finance.
Hardware Club is now the largest external shareholder in Keecker, though the size of its stake was not disclosed. Pierre Lebeau, founder and chief executive of Keecker, retains a majority stake in the company.
Founded in 2012, Keecker produces a voice-enabled robot that is able to move around the house and offer a range of features, from projecting media content or Skype conferences on to a wall, to conducting home surveillance and remotely controlling appliances such as heating.
Alexis Houssou, co-founder of Hardware Club, will join Keecker’s board of directors alongside François Barbier, president of global operations and components at contract manufacturer Flex, which builds the company’s robots in China.
Keecker had raised $1.8mm in funding from Hardware Club in 2015, adding to approximately $260,000 secured in a crowdfunding campaign in November 2014 and an undisclosed amount of angel funding six months earlier.