Welcome to “Robot Investments Weekly,” a new feature on Robotics Business Review that every Friday recaps the week that was in acquisitions, funding, IPOs and mergers and acquisitions in the robotics industry. For more information about investing in robotics, RBR members can access our Transactions Database that keeps you updated on the key mergers and…
IBM Watson AI XPRIZE Names Top 2 Entries So Far
The IBM Watson AI XPRIZE has named has named the top 10 and top two teams so far in its four-year competition, which is intended to encourage R&D to apply artificial intelligence to social problems.
Intuitive Surgical pays $274m, closes $2B share buyback deal
Robotic surgical giant Intuitive Surgical (NSDQ:ISRG) paid $274 million to Goldman Sachs to close a nearly year-long buyback of its common stock, according to an SEC filing posted yesterday The payback was part of a total $3 billion stock repurchasing deal the company initiated on January 27, in which is paid $2 billion for an…
Titan Medical installs 3rd, final Sport system for validation & feasibility trials
Titan Medical (TSX:TMD) said today it installed a Sport robotic surgical system at the Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire de Strasbourg, marking the 1st installation of the system in Europe and the final planned installation for the company’s feasibility and validation studies. The Toronto-based company said it expects studies to begin at the facility in the fourth quarter of 2017…
FORPHEUS AI Ping-Pong Robot Coaches Humans at CES 2018
Omron will be making its first appearance at CES 2018 and will be bringing its FORPHEUS table-tennis training robot. In addition, check out the AI conference within the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Robocath adds $2m for new neurovascular platform
Medical robotics startup Robocath said today that it added about $2 million (€1.7 million) to the more than $5 million it raised earlier this year, taking its total to $7.5 million in funding this year. Rouen, France-based Robocath, which is developing the R-One robotic platform for coronary angioplasty, is pursuing CE Mark approval in the European Union for…
Fetch Robotics Raises $25M for Mobile Robots, Fleet Management
Fetch Robotics, which provides mobile and pick-and-place robots for supply chain operations, has raised funds for expansion. The company has also developed its FetchCore fleet management platform.
Titan Medical closes upsized $18m round
Titan Medical (TSX:TMD) said today that it closed a funding round that brought in nearly $4 million more than it was originally expecting, grossing more than $18 million for the Sport robot-assisted surgery device it’s developing. Last month the Toronto-based company upsized the previously announced offering to between $14.1 million and $18 million ((C$18 million to C$23 million), up…
November 2017 fundings, acquisitions and IPOs
Twenty-two different startups were funded in November cumulatively raising $782 million, down a bit from the $862 million in October. The big $400 million funding for UBTech and the $55 million for TuSimple were the only two fundings over $50 million and they were both for Chinese startups with funding from Chinese VC firms. Six…