GROOVE X, Inc. closed a funding transaction on January 20, 2021, receiving ¥2.7 billion. The company amended the terms of the transaction and received ¥900,000,000 in a second tranche. The deal included a capital agreement with new investor NTT DOCOMO, Inc. The transaction also included participation from lender Japan Finance Corporation in the form of a loan. Other participants named in the round were Sompo Holdings, Inc. and Hitachi Global Life Solutions, Inc. GROOVE X has raised ¥13,310,000,000 in funding to date. GROOVE X focuses on developing next-generation domestic robots that accompany people on an emotional level rather than replacing human work. Its flagship concept, LOVOT, is intended to provide companionship, emotional fulfillment, and a sense of relief to improve daily life. The company planned a product announcement for LOVOT in fall 2018 and a public launch in 2019. GROOVE X was founded in November 2015 by Kaname Hayashi, an AI robot developer with prior engineering experience at Toyota and SoftBank (lead developer of Pepper). The business is pursuing commercialization of consumer-facing, emotion‑responsive robots rather than industrial automation. Financially, the company is raising roughly JPY 8 billion in capital including past seed funding, with a third‑party allocation and additional investments planned to support development and launch.

Total raised

$83M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Jan 2021