US-based telecoms company SoftBank, which operates a corporate venturing unit itself, has attracted a $236m investment from e-commerce company Alibaba and contract manufacturer Foxconn, TechCrunch reported earlier today.
The deal gives Alibaba and Foxconn a 10% stake in SoftBank’s subsidiary SoftBank Robotics, while SoftBank retains a 60% stake.
The investment comes as SoftBank prepares to start selling its humanoid household robot named Pepper (pictured), manufactured by Foxconn. The purpose of the deal is strategic, as both Alibaba and Foxconn will give SoftBank access to their global networks.
SoftBank plans on launching an enterprise-focused version of Pepper later in 2015, and develop other robotics technologies in the future.
The robot was developed by Aldebaran, a France-based division of SoftBank Robotics which the company acquired in 2013 for $100m.
Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, said: “Robotics will become a critical field that catalyses technological breakthroughs in numerous sectors such as healthcare, public services, research and at home.
“Our partnership with SoftBank and Foxconn combines the best hardware and software talent in the industry to pave the way for robotics research and development.”
– image courtesy of Aldebaran / SoftBank Robotics