Austin-based Diligent Robotics Inc., a robotics and AI startup that assists healthcare workers, has reportedly raised over $30 million in its latest Series B round, led by American investment major Tiger Global.
According to reports, the firm develops socially intelligent service robots as well as AI solutions that enable robots to collaborate inside and adapt to the human environment.
The funding round also saw the participation from previous investors, including Ubiquity Ventures, DNX Venture, True Ventures, Next Coast Ventures, Gaingels, E14 Fund, and Boom Capital, with additional commitments coming from new investor Cedars-Sinai Health Ventures.
The firm was founded in 2017 by a doctor-duo of Dr Andrea Thomaz and Dr Vivian Chu, who are also the CEO and CTO of Diligent Robotics respectively.
In a press release, Thomaz stated that the new round will help the company in scaling up to meet the increasing demand for its healthcare service robot.
She expressed her gratitude for the support received from the investors and the Diligent team, and stated that the firm will be focusing on expanding automated support for clinical teams and aid nurses and clinicians in focusing on more important tasks such as patient care.
The robotics startup will be utilizing the funding to navigate some supply chain problems while continuing to deploy its flagship robot Moxie. In addition, the firm will also continue improving interoperability and work on incorporating existing hospital infrastructure, clinical communications, and electronic health records to meet demand amidst a nursing shortage.
The pandemic has led to an acute shortage of nurses, especially in the U.S., who have been feeling burned out and stressed due to overloaded systems through the past two years.
Diligent Robotics is the leading firm in the social robotics market and is the first to develop a robot that not only has mobile manipulation capabilities but also social intelligence that helps patients in their work environments.
In 2018, the company had launched its collaborative robot assistant Moxi, which can assist medical staff with routine tasks that do not directly engage with patients, such as fetching and delivering medications, supplies, and lab samples.