Future Space based, augmented reality and mobile gaming, company Reach Robotics has completed a £5.8m funding round, led by South Korea- and Singapore-based investors.
Reach Robotics was founded in 2013 by Silas Adekunle, Chris Beck and John Rees to develop a next generation robotics platform, with robotic engineering combined with mobile gaming and augmented reality. It has developed the MekaMon intelligent gaming robot.
The business was formed as part of the Bristol Robotics Laboratory incubator programme and is now based at Future Space, a workspace for innovators located at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol).
Reach Robotics has secured $7.5m (£5.8m) in Series A funding, co-led by Korea Investment Partners (KiP) and IGlobe, an investor from the previous seed round.
NCSOFT and Kin Yat also contributed to the round as a new investors, together with London Venture Partners, Passion Capital, Qualcomm Ventures and Hardware Club, which had previously supported the business with seed funding.
Former UWE Bristol robotics student Silas Adekunle, the company’s chief executive, said: “To date we’ve executed on our vision for MekaMon as a product with a small and amazing team; this financing round will help us move to the next exciting chapter of our company and execute our go-to-market strategy, strengthen our team and capitalise on some of the amazing partnerships that are developing around the globe.
“We are now looking for the very best talent across lots of disciplines to join our team and help us achieve our vision.”
The investment coincides with the news that the first MekaMon robots are now shipping for a global beta-test program.
Reach Robotics has also announced two senior appointments, with Sean Ratcliffe joining as chief marketing officer. He has 25 years of experience in gaming across companies such as Electronic Arts, LEGO, Disney and SEGA, and most recently served as chief marketing officer for Rovio Entertainment, the maker of Angry Birds.
Alex Peters has also joined to focus on strategy, business development and partnership opportunities. He has held senior studio management roles with Electronic Arts and Activision.
