Quest backs Vietnam robotic prosthetics start-up

Vulcan’s technology spans wearables, biometric sensing, and customizable robotics for upper limb amputations. It hopes to use its seed funding not explore wearable healthcare devices, including diagnostic monitors, as well as related virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) tools.

James Tan, managing partner at Quest, framed the investment in in social impact terms, especially considering changing demographics. Vietnam, which currently has about 57m amputees, is one of the fastest-growing populations globally, with people over 60 set to be 25% of the country by 2050.

“I am particularly concerned with ageing populations, and the quality of care that they will have,” Tan said in a social media post. “Affordable and high-performance robotic prosthetics will certainly improve independence, increase the quality of life, and decrease the burden on caregivers and society at large.”

Vulcan’s core product is a prosthetic arm equipped with a wrist designed to be tailored to customer needs. It said to be suitable for workout routines such as pushups and is installable in less than 20 seconds. There is also a robotic hand with 360-degree wrist rotation and day-long battery usage. The hand is touted as able to hold a credit card and pencil, as well as performing stronger five-finger grips.

The prosthetics are in part managed by a sensor unit, worn as a belt, that processes bio-signals with artificial intelligence and self-adapts to the user’s body after three uses. There is also an accompanying mobile app for calibrating bio-signal functions and requesting technical support.

Vulcan has also launched its first job-specific module, a system designed to be especially appropriate for the duties of restaurant and café waiters. The company has partnered with a local chain, The Coffee House, to advance an initial rollout. It noted that as a public-interacting deployment, the programme could improve product visibility.

Quest was set up in 2011 by Tan and Wang Yunming, co-founders of 55tuan, a Chinese discount e-commerce marketplace that listed on NASDAQ in 2015. Tan resigned as CEO in 2017, and Quest was registered in Singapore in 2019. It reached a first close of USD 50m on its second flagship fund in 2020. Notable investees include Carro, Carousell, ShopBack, and 99.co.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Healthcare
• Technology
• Early-stage
• Vietnam
• medical devices
• robotics
• seed