Robotics startup Telexistence secured $170 M from backers including SoftBank
A $170 million Series B round has been successfully raised by the Japanese robotics startup Telexistence (TX).
The funding includes the follow-on investments from the lead investors in prior funding rounds, including Monoful Venture Partners, KDDI Open Innovation Fund, and Airbus Ventures, according to a statement from TX on Thursday.
Additionally, TX has received funding from fresh investors such as Globis Capital Partners (GCP), HH-CTBC Partnership (Foxconn Co-GP Fund), and SoftBank Group Corp. (SBG).
In order to advance their business collaboration globally with a focus on quickening commercialization in North America, TX also entered into a strategic business partnership agreement with SoftBank Robotic Group Corp. (SBRG), a subsidiary of SBG.
TX will also start working with Foxconn to establish production technology and implement mass production for its “GHOST” next-generation model.
Ryohei Nomoto (GCP) and Kenichi “Kent” Yoshida (SBRG) will be named as new directors as a result of this funding.
TX was founded in 2017, and since then, it has advanced from research and development (R&D) and proof-of-concept with small-scale robots to deploying hundreds of its own robots in dynamic environments outside of factories and carrying out commercial-scale operations.
One of the three major convenience store chains in Japan, FamilyMart, and TX announced a partnership in 2021 through which the team will deploy its robots to 300 of FamilyMart’s stores.
“With the proud backing of our new partners SBG and Foxconn, TX increases its commitment to accelerate the rapid expansion of its existing robot operations and drive the development of robots with human-level versatility, which is the goal of anyone involved in robotics,“ said Jin Tomioka, Chief Executive Officer of Telexistence.
“With this latest funding, we aim to amplify our search for top, diverse talent to enhance our global capabilities at scale,” he added.
He asserted that TX believes there are numerous opportunities for people with demonstrated skills to succeed, regardless of their nationality, age, or length of employment. In fact, current team members come from 25 different countries.
