Kinova secures $25M in funding to accelerate growth

Oct. 2, 2017 – Kinova, a designer and manufacturer of robotic solutions, has received funds totalling $25 million from four contributors, including Fonds Manufacturier Québécois S.E.C. II, KTB Network, Foxconn and BDC Capital.

“We want our users to achieve the extraordinary with our robots – creating more value for themselves and our society,” said Kinova CEO Charles Deguire. “The financial support, broad expertise and geographic coverage of our experienced partners gives us additional resources to accelerate our growth, quickly and strategically establish our presence in new markets, develop an extended line of breakthrough products, and propel our advanced manufacturing capabilities.”

The company operates in three markets: assistive robotics, which give humans with reduced mobility more independence; innovative robotics, which drives academic research; and medical robotics, which helps health professionals treat their patients more efficiently.

Collectively, the funds will help Kinova accelerate its growth in research, development and product innovation. The company said it expects to boost the research on its own production efficiency through digitization and robotization of its operations. As well, it intends to “reduce its production costs, while increasing both the quality and timeliness of its output, taking Factory 4.0 to new heights.”

“We’re thrilled to be investing in this world leader in human assistance robotics, and to have the opportunity to share our expertise in business development and operations optimization. By doing so, we’ll be able to support the company’s growth plans,” said Jean Rochette and Marc Dufresne, partners at FMQ.

“We are very impressed in the leadership and vision of Kinova in human collaboration robotics and are proud to support such an innovative company,” added HoChan Lee, KTB Network’s managing director.

Last month, Kinova received $500,000 from the Government of Canada to acquire robotic manufacturing equipment.