Hurotics, a wearable robot maker, said on the 15th that it has raised 25 billion won ($17.5 million) in a Series A round, bringing its cumulative funding to more than 33.5 billion won.
Atinum Investment led the round, with existing backers including Stonebridge Ventures, the Industrial Bank of Korea, Aju IB Investment and Wonik Investment Partners joining in follow-on investments. Daewoong, NAVER and Lotte came in as strategic investors, alongside Mirae Asset Venture Investment as a new investor. Hurotics said it plans to work with them on expanding hospital supply and distribution channels, moving into overseas markets, and developing a data and software platform.
Hurotics was founded in 2022 by Lee Gi-wook, a professor of mechanical engineering at Chung-Ang University. Its flagship product, H-Medi, is a medical rehabilitation robot worn like clothing to assist walking, and has received Class 2 combination medical device certification from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Sensors analyze the wearer's gait in real time and supply the force needed, helping patients walk while using their own muscles.
Since its commercial launch last September, H-Medi has been adopted by Severance Hospital in Sinchon, Chung-Ang University Hospital and Korea University Hospital. In June this year, it was exported to the University of Illinois Chicago, where it is used in stroke rehabilitation research and physical therapist training. The company is also pursuing entry into the Japanese and Southeast Asian markets.
Hurotics said it will use the proceeds to obtain overseas regulatory approvals for H-Medi, widen its distribution network, and develop and mass-produce H-Care, a robot designed to assist everyday walking. Over the medium to long term, the company plans to expand into a wearable physical artificial intelligence platform, using gait data to develop personalized walking algorithms and services that predict the risk of muscle loss and falls.
"With this investment, we will accelerate the global rollout of H-Medi and the commercialization of H-Care, and combine it with physical AI to deliver wearable robots that look after people's health in daily life," Lee, the chief executive of Hurotics, said.