Japanese mobility firm Whill closes $11m Series A round

Other participants in the round included: Sun Microsystems co-founder and former CEO Scott McNealy; Taiwan's Jochu Technology; NTT Docomo Ventures; and existing backers 500 startups.

The company raised an $1 million seed round in July last year with funding from a group of venture capital investors including Itochu Technology Ventures, 500 Startups and Sun Bridge Global Ventures. The company had also received direct investment from vocational training firm Wingle.

Based in Tokyo and San Francisco, Whill was set up n 2011 by CEO Satoshi Sugie with a team of former Toyota and Nissan automobile industry experts and engineers. The company claims to have made the world's first personal mobility device using a patented all-direction four-wheel-drive technology.

The investment will be used to manufacture and expand distribution of Whill's line of indoor and all-terrain outdoor personal mobility devices. The company eventually aims to position itself as leading innovator in the area of personal transport for the injured or disabled, it said in a statement.

"WHILL is uniquely positioned to provide both a stylish and effectively designed mobility solution that taps a huge market opportunity for those who live with mobility issues," said McNealy.

According to the US census bureau, as many as 54 million Americans have a disability. That's approximately one in five Americans, or about 20% of the population. Of those disabled, nearly 40% had a disability preventing them from walking or using stairs - a group responsible for more than $200 billion in discretionary spending.

 

 

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Technology
• Technology
• Innovation Network Corp. of Japan (INCJ)
• Japan
• ITOCHU Technology Ventures
• 500 Startups