Rapyuta Robotics raises CHF2.6 million

Rapyuta Robotics was founded in July of 2014 and aims to build cloud-connected low-cost multi-robotic systems for security. The funding will be used to lay down the technical foundation for the company and to develop application-specific software layers for the security market. Rapyuta’s technical team consist mostly of members from the Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control of ETH Zurich, which is well known for its unique and dynamic robotic systems, as well as from the EU-funded RoboEarth project, which aimed at building an internet for robots.

A significant portion of this funding will be spent on the engineering efforts at Rapyuta Research AG, an ETH Zurich spin-off and a wholly owned subsidiary of Rapyuta Robotics Co. Ltd, that is located in Zurich, Switzerland. Having engineering offices both in Tokyo and Zurich gives Rapyuta access to a very wealthy pool of talent, a crucial ingredient in building the next generation of robotics systems.

The funding round was led by Cyberdyne Inc., a Japanese robotics and technology company most noted for its HAL 5 robotic exoskeleton suit. The funding also had participation from SBI investments, one of Japan’s leading venture capital firms; Fuji Creative Corporation, a subsidiary of Fuji Media holdings; and V-Cube Inc., the leader in Japan’s enterprise visual communications market. “In addition to the funding, the strategic partnerships we have with all our investors will significantly boost Rapyuta’s effort to bring its core technology to the market,” said Arudchelvan Krishnamoorthy, co-founder and COO of Rapyuta Robotics Co. Ltd.

“Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s push towards the robot revolution is expected to double Japan’s robot-related market in the manufacturing sector and achieve a 20-fold jump in the non-manufacturing sector by 2020. I believe that Rapyuta can significantly contribute to this revolution with its Cloud Robotics approach, which significantly drives down the cost and increases the autonomy of robotic systems,” said Takeshi Goto, Director and Executive Officer of SBI investment Co., Ltd. “I am very excited about Rapyuta’s technology, especially their cloud robotics and control engineering efforts. This has the potential for a big impact,” added Prof. Dr. Yoshiyuki Sankai, CEO of Cyberdyne Inc.