The Hong Kong service robot manufacturer is expanding its current lineup of robots and quadrupling production to supplement the labour shortage
Hong Kong-based startup, Rice Robotics has successfully secured US$7 million in pre-Series A funding to establish a production plant in Hong Kong and expand its footprint in its current largest market, Japan. Investors for this funding round include Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund, Soul Capital, Audacy Ventures, Sun Hung Kai & Company and Cyberport HK. According to reports, there is no lead investor for the round.
Rice Robotics produces robots to serve a range of functions, including delivery, disinfection and security, which have been deployed in multiple industries. A portion of this recent funding series has gone towards establishing a massive 13,000 sqft production plant to produce more robots in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong. Factory operations commenced in Q1 2023 and the company is looking to significantly increase its production capacity to meet ongoing demand.
Read more: Cute robots take over: The growing trend of adorable designs in robotics
The robots have been designed to carry a 30 kg payload and take up minimal storage space. With its fast-charging time of 1 hour, the robots can operate continuously for 12 hours.
Victor Lee, the founder and CEO at Rice Robotics, who is a 2021 Gen.T honouree, said, “We aspire to showcase to the world that Hong Kong possesses a robotics company capable of producing first-tier service robots. Our aim is to nurture talent locally and contribute to the advancement of Industry 4.0 in our hometown.”
The new plant has quadrupled Rice Robotics’ annual production capacity of its Hong Kong-made robots. The rapid adoption of robots in Japan has made the country the largest market for Rice Robotics, even surpassing demand at home in Hong Kong. This has been attributed to Japan’s enthusiastic integration of disinfection and delivery robots following the Covid-19 pandemic.
Rice Robotics has collaborated with several Japanese companies to implement the use of its robots, including Softbank, Japan Post, Mitsui Group and Toyota Motor Corporation. With the new round of funding, the increased production supply will allow greater worldwide expansion.
