Telexistence Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Jin Tomioka; hereinafter “TX”) has appointed Shintaro Maeda as its new CFO. Shintaro comes from a extensive finance background. After working at Morgan Stanley for over 10 years, Shintaro joined a robotic startup called GROOVE X, where he led the funding initiatives there, successfully raising 8.5 billion yen in total before joining TX.

Since the establishment of the business three years ago, with IPO in-mind, TX has been focusing on further accelerating growth by reinforcing its strategy around finance/business which also includes accounting/corporate governance and has decided to welcome Shintaro Maeda as CFO, who comes with rich experience in this area.

Shintaro graduated from Keio University in 2002 and joined Morgan Stanley Securities (currently Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities) shortly after that. For the past 13 years, he has worked in the Financial Market Development Division where he was responsible for developing financial products for life insurance companies and corporations. After leaving Morgan Stanley Securities in 2016, he joined GROOVE X Co., Ltd., a start-up company that develops family-type robots called “LOVOT”, as the first business-side staff member. From there, he led the 2nd to 4th equity financing rounds where he was able to secure a total of 8.5 billion yen (each of the procurement amounts were 1.16 billion yen, 4.35 billion yen, and 3 billion yen, respectively) . He also played a leading role in the overall optimization of the company during its expansion, specifically in the corporate management and organizational-structuring areas.

[Comments from Shintaro Maeda]

“To be able to operate a robot in a remote place and be able to move and interact with the physical surrounding as if you were actually there – a concept that is still considered to be something from a sci-fi movie or anime, the challenge will be developing that technology in a way that brings the most value to the real world and making that into a scalable business.  I am both optimistic and excited to be apart of a team, as CFO, of such exceptional talent, a group of people who have gathered from all parts of the world to help make the world TX envisions a reality.

My mission will be to drive TX’s sustainable business growth through creating value in areas of financial strategy/business management and to make sure to bring value to our shareholders and stakeholders.”

[Comments from Jin Tomioka, CEO]

“The reality is that even if you combine all the robot manufacturers in the world, the number of robots sold every year does not reach one million units.  Compared to other leading hardware products such as automobiles (100 million units sold), TVs (200 million units sold), and smartphones (350 million units sold), the unit sales of robots is still very small.  At volumes this low, it his hard to expect growth in certain key drivers important for the growth of this field.  Such as growth of talent, creation of new ideas and meaningful technological advancement.  As a result, you have a product that is expensive and sub-optimal for the world outside the factory.

We at TX, want to change this situation by focusing on attracting the top talents in other industries, people like Shintaro, which conventionally do not find there way into the robot industry.  As production volume of robots increase, there will be more opportunities together with better incentives to improve and innovate the design and manufacturing of robots.  This will lead to better performing robots at lower cost, consequently expanding the market, encouraging the industry to further develop.  In this way, as the production increases and cost of production decrease, we aim to achieve the ‘Manufacturer’s Maturity Curve’ early, in the world outside the factory.”

[Shintaro Maeda’s Profile]

2002/4         Morgan Stanley Securities (currently Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities)

2003/5         Lazard Freres K.K.

2004/3         Morgan Stanley Securities (currently Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities)

2016/9         GROOVE X, Inc.

2019/12 Telexistence Inc.

[Positions Currently Open]

・Robotics Cockpit Operation Manager

　URL: https://tx-inc.com/ja/career-jp/#toggle-id-1

・Frontend Engineer

　URL: https://tx-inc.com/ja/career-jp/#toggle-id-2

・Backend Engineer

　URL: https://tx-inc.com/en/career/#toggle-id-3

・Robot Software Engineer (Navigation/Localization)

　URL: https://tx-inc.com/ja/career-jp/#toggle-id-3

[About Telexistence Inc]

TX is a robotics company that develops remote controlled robots with artificial intelligence, with the mission to change robots, change the structure, and change the world. TX aims to develop a platform concept, “Augmented Workforce”, a platform that enables people to provide their workforce remotely, through robots.

[Company Profile]

Company Name: Telexistence Inc.

Location: 2-19-5 Nishi-Shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Representative: Jin Tomioka, CEO

Establishment: 2017/1/23

Company HP: https://tx-inc.com

[Inquiries]

Email:  info@tx-inc.com

Contact name:  Matt Komatsu

Telexistence Inc. (headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; CEO: Jin Tomioka; hereinafter “TX Inc”) announced today that it has completed its Series A round of financing.

Airbus Ventures led the investment round with participation from existing and new investors, KDDI Open Innovation Fund, Innovation Platform for the University of Tokyo (U Tokyo IPC), DEEPCORE Inc, Monoful Inc. (Group company of GLP Japan), Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), JTB Corp, Maeda Corporation and Mizuho Capital Co., Ltd.. TX Inc. has also raised debt financing from MUFG Bank.
(Funding amount undisclosed.)

Airbus Ventures Partner, Lewis Pinault will join TX Inc.’s Board of Directors as an external board member.

TX Inc. develops remote-controlled robots, Wings of Liberty, that release humans from physical constraints and corporate activities from revenues’ regressive effects, utilizing Telexistence® technology, robotics, telecommunication, VR, haptics and AI. This round of financing will help the company accelerate its product and business development as well as recruit the best talent on the planet. TX Inc. continues to push the fundamental state of art forward.

• Comments from investors

Dr. Lewis Pinault, Airbus Ventures Partner in Tokyo remarks, “At Airbus Ventures we’re particularly excited to see this brilliant convergence of all the strengths of the University of Tokyo’s Tachi Lab, the superbly relevant capabilities of our co-investors in telecom connectivity, AI and robotics, and above all the technical and entrepreneurial wherewithal represented by Telexistence’s founders and diverse, richly talented team.”

Airbus Ventures’ CEO Thomas d’Halluin adds, “We’re proud to lead this important round and join the board of a company pioneering the actual commercial deployment of a human/ robotic avatar capability, and we look forward to promoting the many potential Telexistence applications throughout our Airbus mothership network.”

Naohiro Mizumoto, Principal at U Tokyo IPC remarks, “Telexistence, as indicated in the company name, is a concept proposed by Dr. Susumu Tachi, Professor Emeritus of the University of Tokyo 38 years ago, and has been studied for many years. The concept and application of telexistence cover a broad spectrum, however, we believe that the automation application has the potential to transform the current concept of robots, as it has a completely different approach in bringing automation to industries. There are still obstacles to overcome, but together with CEO Jin Tomioka and the team, U Tokyo IPC aims to pursue this quest.”

Eiji Toyokawa , Group Leader at KDDI Open Innovation Fund remarks, “We are very excited to have participated in TX Inc.’s Series A round. KDDI will create new values by promoting co-creation of robotics businesses in the 5G era, together with TX Inc..”

Hiro Watanabe, Manager, Incubation & Investment at DEEPCORE Inc. remarks, “We highly value the capabilities that CEO Jin Tomioka and the TX Inc. team has in technology, product design and business development. DEEPCORE is committed to supporting the company’s mission to solve industry problems through their remote-controlled robots.”

Yosuke Fujioka, President, Monoful Inc. remarks, “We highly value TX Inc.’s remote-controlled robots and its technology, and anticipate this will become a solution for the pressing issue of lack of labor in the logistics field.”

•  Lewis Pinault Biography

Dr. Lewis Pinault is an Airbus Ventures Partner based in Tokyo, managing the Asia Pacific region, and now joins the board of Telexistence. Previously, Lewis was a NASA researcher, and Financial Institutions Partner at Coopers & Lybrand in Singapore and Hong Kong, beginning his early consulting career at The Boston Consulting Group in Tokyo. His lifelong passions for exploring the oceans and space seeking the most advanced technologies available first brought him to Asia as an engineer and corporate planning analyst with Nihon Kokan. In Japan Dr. Pinault also serves as a director on the board of satellite ground stations innovator Infostellar.

Lewis earned his bachelor of science at MIT, completed his MSc at London School of Economics as a Fulbright Scholar, and was a NASA Space Grant Fellow at the University of Hawaii, where he completed his juris doctorate in international law and planetary geophysics.

Reference: About the Telexistence® technology
Telexistence® is a concept of using a remote robot as his or her extended being, to release humans from space-time constraints. It was first proposed by Dr. Susumu Tachi, Professor Emeritus Professor of the University of Tokyo in 1980. It is an evolutionary form of a master-slave robot system where the operator receives sensor information from the remotely located robot and controls the robot to conduct remote tasks.

It is based on the knowledge, technology and know-how of robotics, virtual reality, telecommunication, human interface, cognitive psychology such as humanoid robot mechanism, control, visual, auditory, tactile sensing, human movement measurement, visual, auditory, tactile presentation to humans and data transmission.

＜About Us＞
Company ：Telexistence Inc.
Address ：2-19-5 3F, Nishishinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Representatives ：Jin Tomioka, CEO
：Charith Fernando, CTO
Established ：January 23, 2017
URL ：https://tx-inc.com

＜Inquiries＞
Email ：info@tx-inc.com

Telexistence Inc. (Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; CEO Jin Tomioka, / CTO Charith Fernando; hereinafter TX Inc.) has developed a mass production prototype for MODEL H, that uses remote control technologies utilizing the Telexistence® technology, VR, telecommunication, cloud and haptics.

 

In the current robot industry, FA robots occupy a large market share. However, we have a clear vision to create new markets that utilize the Telexistence® technology, VR, telecommunication, cloud, haptics and AI and to pass down businesses and technologies that would become assets for the next generation. Augmentation of human capabilities and presentation of new connectivity are indispensable for dramatic improvement of human life and sophistication of industries.

 

Features of MODEL H

With commercialization in mind, MODEL H has improved ease of use and durability, shortened boot time and startup time, sophisticated design, proprietary cloud infrastructure and will be mobile and internet-ready.

 

The main specific features are as follows.

Cockpit side (operation side)
・Control computer, infrared 3D location measurement, VR and haptic device in portable case, made significantly compact.
・Modularization of haptic presentation device and improvement of UI / UX

 

Robot side
・Low-latency audiovisual / haptic transmission using the internet
・Mechanical design optimized for mass production
・Exterior design assuming commercialization
・Wheel-enabled mobility to experience moving around remote places
・Significant increase in portable weight
・Battery-powered

 

In addition, TX Inc. will hold events that enable customers to experience the Telexistence® technology-based robot and its remote control capabilities in summer 2018. As part of the initiatives to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the return of the Ogasawara Islands to Japan, we are considering a tour experience of TELEXISTENCE TRAVEL, tourism resources in Tokyo Ogasawara Islands, jointly with KDDI Corporation (Headquarters; Tokyo, Japan; President Makoto Takahashi), our strategic investor, Tokyu Land Corporation (Headquarters; Tokyo, Japan; President Yuji Okuma), that operates urban development with advanced technology in the Takeshiba area, the gateway to the islands, Kajima Corporation (Headquarters; Tokyo, Japan; President Yoshikazu Oshimi) and CiP, Contents innovation Program (Headquarters; Tokyo, Japan; Board Chair Ichiya Nakamura).

 

 

Reference: About the Telexistence® technology
Telexistence® is a concept of using a remote robot as his or her extended being, to release humans from space-time constraints. It was first proposed by Dr. Susumu Tachi, Professor Emeritus Professor of the University of Tokyo in 1980. It is an evolutionary form of a master-slave robot system where the operator receives sensor information from the remotely located robot and controls the robot to conduct remote tasks.

 

It is based on the knowledge, technology and know-how of robotics, virtual reality, telecommunication, human interface, cognitive psychology such as humanoid robot mechanism, control, visual, auditory, tactile sensing, human movement measurement, visual, auditory, tactile presentation to humans and data transmission.

 

【About Us】
Company ：Telexistence Inc.
Address ：5-4-27 Barbizon104 804, Minami Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Representatives ：Jin Tomioka, CEO, Charith Fernando, CTO
Established ：January 23, 2017
URL ：https://tx-inc.com

 

【Inquiries】
Email ：yuichiro.hikosaka@tx-inc.com

 

【For Press】
Link : https://tx-inc.com/presskit