A unit of Foxconn Technology Group, the world’s largest electronics contract manufacturer, is investing US$30 million in Hong Kong-based Robocore Technology, marking the Taiwanese company’s foray into the smart robotics market.
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Foxconn Technology – an independently listed firm in Taipei that is 9.88 per cent owned by the Apple and Nvidia supplier – made the investment as part of the recently completed Series D funding round of Robocore, which is headquartered in the Hong Kong Science Park.
“This is more than a capital injection – it’s an affirmation of our company’s future prospects,” Robocore founder and CEO Roy Lim Long-hei said in a statement on Wednesday.
Foxconn Technology’s manufacturing capabilities and supply chain network would enable Robocore to accelerate growth and “expand into new markets”, Lim said. The deal was also expected to help Robocore eventually initiate an initial public offering in the US within the next five years, he added.
The smart robotics outlay reflects the efforts of parent Foxconn, which trades as Hon Hai Precision Industry on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, to diversify its business from smartphones to AI servers and other cloud and networking products.
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Robocore designs, develops and manufactures programmable service robots for use in the healthcare, education, consumer and smart facility management markets. Its Israel-based subsidiary, RoboTemi Global, is the developer of the artificial intelligence-enabled temi robot, a smart personal assistant for the home.
The Foxconn Technology investment in Robocore would also provide a boost to Hong Kong’s push to become an innovation and technology hub.