
SBI backs $18m round for Japan bio-robotics start-up
SBI Investment has joined a $17.7 million funding round for Meltin, a Japanese company focused on combining robotics with bio-signal processing.
Other investors included Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma and Dai-Ichi Life Insurance Company. The company said it would use the captial to advance the development of “avatar robots,” medical devices, and “cyborg technologies.”
Founded in 2013, Meltin develops devices aimed at allowing people to exceed their physical restrictions. This is to be achieved through technology that analyzes human body movements and intentions, as well as robotics equipment that allows for these movements and intents to be accurately replicated.
The company said it hopes that combining these disciplines would advance cyborg technology and facilitate the creation of “artificial bodies” as well as functional brain-machine interfaces. The idea is to allow people to operate machines and robots in the same way as their own bodies.
“We have high hopes that the bio-signal and robot technologies Meltin is developing will lead to revolutions in both the industry and the lives of individuals through their application in medical devices and avatar robots,” Toshiro Kiyofuji, a deputy general manager at SBI, said in a statement. “Here at SBI we plan to provide them with our full support in their efforts to create new value.”
Previous investors in Meltin include Real Tech Fund, Sparx Asset Management’s Mirai Creation Fund, and specialist incubator Japanese Organization for Medical Device Development. All three investors contributed to a $2 million Series A late last year. SMBC Venture Capital reportedly provided seed funding in 2016.
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