News / Reach Robotics
Reach Robotics secure £5.8m investment
A robotics company, based at the University of the West of England, have secured a £5.8m investment for their future.
Reach Robotics develop augmented reality technology for the gaming industry. Their creations include battle bot MekaMon, a robot controlled by your smart phone which combines virtual and physical gaming experiences.
Silas Adekunle, Chris Beck and John Rees founded the company in 2013, with a vision of creating and developing a “next-generation robotics platform” that would bridge the gap between mobile gaming and augmented reality.
The company has grown impressively and has attracted talent from across the gaming industry, including chief marketing officer Sean Ratcliffe, previously of LEGO and Electronic Arts.
Reach Robotics’ CEO Silas Adekunle is a graduate from UWE. “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,” he said.
“We are now looking for the very best talent across lots of disciplines to join our team and help us achieve our vision.”
Reach Robotics’ MekaMon battle bot
The £5.8m investment is from Singaporean venture capital firm iGlobe Partners. Founder Soo Boon Koh said of the announcement: “Reach Robotics is an exciting investment for iGlobe. MekaMon is a sensational product at the crossroads of AR [augmented reality], robotics and gaming sectors; a burgeoning market fuelled by strong demand for immersive play from a new class of consumers.”
The investment has come at a great time for the startup, as Reach Robotics prepare to ship the first batch of their MekaMon robots.
“We have 500 MekaMon that will be shipped to our early registered customers around the world,” Silas said. “They will become the start of our global community and help us hone the MekaMon experience as a next level robotic, augmented reality and gaming platform.”
Read more: Sector spotlight – robotics
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