How many of us remember Rosie the robot from The Jetsons? With four-fingered hands, an omnidirectional mobile base and a wide variety of sensors, she literally zoomed around the house doing all the domestic chores that humans hate to do. In the 1960s when the sitcom grabbed attention, this might have felt like a dream. However, it is not the case anymore.
A France-based startup founded in 2012 by Jean-Louis Constanza, Matthieu Masselin, Nicolas Simon, refused to accept the status quo of wheelchair use and is building autonomous walking exoskeletons to boost mobility and home care and roll out robots that will probably be the Rosie of our lives.
The Paris-based Wandercraft has announced a $45 million equity financing to fulfil the company’s mission of ‘mobility for all’ and launch Personal Exoskeleton for outdoor and home use. The series C round was led by the US fund Quadrant Management, joined by existing investor Bpifrance and new participants MACSF, Malakoff Humanis, AG2R La Mondiale, Mutuelles Impact and Sofiouest. Other existing investors Xange, IDinvest, LBO France and Cemag Invest also participated in the round.
The funding will also allow the startup to accelerate the deployment of Atalante, its pioneering rehabilitation exoskeleton, in the U.S.. Atalante is Wandercraft’s first exoskeleton and was commercialised in 2019. It is currently being used by rehabilitation and neurological hospitals in Europe and North America to provide innovative care for many patients.
The startup is now developing a personal version of the exoskeleton for outdoor and home use to enable people with reduced mobility to regain autonomy in their daily activities and improve their health, both at home and elsewhere.
Talking about the new funding, Matthieu Masselin, CEO, Wandercraft said: "With the support of patients, medical professionals and the deep tech community, Wandercraft’s team has created a unique technology that improves rehabilitation care and will soon enable people in wheelchairs to regain autonomy and improve their everyday health.”
“We are thrilled to lead this round of financing and to bring together these responsible investors in order to make the world better,” said Alan Quasha, Chairman and CEO of Quadrant Management. In connection with the financing, Alan Quasha Chairman and CEO of Quadrant Management will join Wandercraft’s Board of Directors.
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