Japan's LifeRobotics raises $9m Series B round

Existing backers Koden Holdings and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, which took part in LifeRobotics' JPY500 million Series A earlier this year, also participated in the round, as did new investors Mizuho Capital and Golden Asia Fund. The company plans to invest the new capital in mass production and sales of its robots, along with improvements to post-sales service for customers.

Founded in 2007, LifeRobotics specializes in collaborative robots, also known as co-robots, for use alongside human workers in a variety of settings. Its main product Coro is intended to be used in small spaces where conventional industrial robots cannot be conveniently placed, and to be easily programmed even by employees without formal training.

Though Coro is still under development, LifeRobotics says it has already been approached by major Japanese manufacturers such as Toyota and Omron, in addition to restaurant chain Yoshinoya. The project was showcased at the 2015 International Robot Exhibition in Japan and has been demonstrated as capable of operating safely alongside human workers.

Robotics technology is the subject of much interest in Japan, where the machines are seen as possible solutions to the issue of an aging population and shrinking work force. SoftBank has a significant presence in the field: its subsidiary SoftBank Robotics, formerly Aldebaran Robotics, is the developer of humanoid robot assistant Pepper, and raised JPY29 billion last year from Alibaba Group and Foxconn Technology Group to help with international expansion.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Technology
• Early-stage
• Japan
• manufacturing
• Global Brain Corporation
• Mizuho Capital
• Mitsubishi UFJ Capital