Innovation Network Corp of Japan (INCJ) agreed to acquire a minority interest in Squse Inc, according to three sources with knowledge on the matter. Squse is a Kyoto-based company that makes robotic hands, wrote Bloomberg.
State-backed fund INCJ will shell out around JPY500 million ($4.9 million) to buy a 20% stake in Squse, the sources said. .The tech firm is eyeing an initial public offering (IPO) in Japan within two years, the report detailed.
Amazon.com Inc and Google Inc had also invested in Squse. The robotics company's devices are able to move objects around warehouses and pick up products on production lines for processed food and auto parts, the report added.
Squse's robotic hands are able to make movements similar to that of humans. The said device can pick up soft objects up to 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds in weight, based on the firm's website. Founded in 1997, Squse also markets automated production lines that have preinstalled robotic hands. One source said the Kyoto-based firm aims to export its products to industrial firms in Europe, Asia, and the US, Bloomberg reported.
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