Aldebaran Robotics has raised $13 million in venture capital for its Nao Humanoid Robot. The majority of this funding has been provided by Intel Capital which is the hardware giant’s investment arm. The new funds will allow the company to develop its products in additional sectors such as health and social care.
The Paris based robotics company is a leader in designing humanoid robots. The CEO and founder of Aldebaran Robotics, Bruno Maisonnier said that this investment from Intel Capital enables Aldebaran to become a key player in this nascent industry. Its products already combine a range of facial and voice recognition technologies with location awareness capabilities, providing a flexible platform for application development.
A number of French firms already fund the company including CDC Innovation, I-Source Gestion, and Credit Agricole Private Equity. Intel said that its funding was not a support of a Rise of Machines scenario but more for vertical sectors like health and social care.
Intel Futurists Brian David Johnson said that he loved robots and the thing that he found really interesting was personal robots. He said that he has been asking when robots will become like laptops or smartphones. Intel Capital's investment in Aldebaran's robots may be just a first step in turning the French company's humanoid robot Nao into a personal companion.