Japan’s MUSE Raises $11M to Expand Armo Robot Production

TOKYO -- Japanese robotic firm MUSE has received 1.75 billion yen ($11 million) in financing aimed at boosting production and expansion of its retail robot, Armo, into the U.S. market.

The company’s statement released Nov. 5 named ALPHA as the new lead investor while existing investors Incubate Fund, XTech Ventures, Spiral Capital and Toshiba Tec also participated in this financing along with new investors such as Rakuten Capital. MUSE did not reveal how much equity and debt investment made up the funding.

The manufacture will use proceedings to establish mass production with outside manufacturing partners, improve navigation and AI skills of its robots, and expand into the U.S. market through sales, deployment and maintenance services.

Armo is a mobile robot which performs a number of tasks in super markets, drug stores and other retail stores. It can carry merchandise, detect stockouts on shelves, provide information about promotions and direct customers.

Armo is already operating in stores run by major Japanese retailers. In August, MUSE began a trial at Foodcellar Market in New York, where the robot transports merchandise inside the store. The company has not disclosed its current production capacity, number of robots operating in stores or revenue from its commercial activities.