With a total financing of $137 million and a partnership with NVIDIA, what makes this exoskeleton robot company so special?

On June 11, 2025, Wandercraft, a French exoskeleton robot company, announced the completion of a $75 million Series D financing round, participated in by institutions such as the Renault Group, the PSIM fund under Bpifrance, Teampact Ventures, and Quadrant Management.

The funds will be used to promote the commercialization of its core product, the Eve system, the international deployment of Atalante X, and the mass - production verification of Calvin - 40.

Since its establishment in 2012, Wandercraft has built a financial chain for technology R & D and market expansion through multiple rounds of financing, with a cumulative financing amount reaching $137 million:

A diagram of Wandercraft's financing history

History of exoskeleton robots:

From the laboratory to the market, from military to multiple fields

An exoskeleton robot is a wearable intelligent mechanical device inspired by the exoskeleton structure of insects in biology. Through the collaboration of technologies such as motors, sensors, and control systems, it provides humans with power support similar to the exoskeletons of insects and shellfish, enhancing or restoring human motor ability.

A diagram of the development history of exoskeleton robots

From 1960, when General Electric in the United States launched the world's first wearable individual soldier device, "Hardiman", aiming to replace human hands with mechanical arms, to the 1970s when exoskeleton robots shifted to the medical field to help paraplegic patients stand and walk and gradually moved out of the laboratory and into the market. Then, in the 21st century, significant breakthroughs were made in exoskeleton - related technologies, and the exoskeleton robot industry continued to develop and break through, with the product application scope gradually expanding to multiple fields such as military, medical, civilian, and industrial.

In this technological wave, founders Matthieu Masselin, Nicolas Simon, and Alexandre Boulanger keenly captured the gap in the global rehabilitation market and understood the urgent needs of patients with mobility impairments. Among the approximately 20 million spinal cord injury patients worldwide, only a few can get support from effective rehabilitation treatment equipment. Wandercraft was founded in Paris in 2012.

After more than a decade of hard work, Wandercraft, with the corporate vision of "enabling wheelchair users to regain the ability to walk", has gradually developed into a company with more than 30 core patents. It has made breakthroughs in fields such as dynamic balance control and gait neural network modeling, growing from a startup to a benchmark in the exoskeleton industry.

Driven by AI,

Three product lines targeting medical, consumer, and industrial markets

Currently, Wandercraft has successfully developed three exoskeleton robots: Atalante X, Eve, and Calvin - 40, targeting the medical, consumer, and industrial markets respectively.

● Atalante X: Designed for patients with mobility impairments, one of the few to obtain both European and American certifications

Model diagram of Atalante X. Source: Wandercraft official website

Atalante X is a self - balancing exoskeleton system for rehabilitation medical institutions, designed for patients with mobility impairments caused by spinal cord injuries, strokes, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, etc. Through the combination of ergonomic design and cutting - edge technology, it helps patients with mobility impairments safely carry out rehabilitation training. Specifically, it has the following unique advantages:

Intelligent self - balancing system, suitable for different patients. The self - balancing system installed on Atalante X uses high - precision sensors and a feedback mechanism to monitor real - time human movements and changes in the center of gravity. Combined with the ZMP (Zero Moment Point) algorithm, it achieves dynamic balance control, ensuring that patients can stand independently without crutches. The device is also equipped with an EarlyGait mode, with a small step size of 5 - 10 cm and customizable walking parameters, helping patients with severe gait disorders quickly start the rehabilitation process.

Integrated design, 12 - degree - of - freedom bionic drive. Atalante X has an electric drive system with 12 degrees of freedom, which can accurately simulate the complex ankle movements in human gait. Working in conjunction with sensor feedback and dynamic balance algorithms, it provides a more natural and smooth walking experience. In addition, the integrated structural design makes the setting and wearing process of Atalante X simple and convenient, suitable for patients with spinal cord injuries, strokes, etc. of different body types, and can meet various rehabilitation needs such as lower - limb training, posture correction, and upper - limb strengthening.

Dynamic adjustment of assistance intensity, real - time tracking of patient data. Atalante X has symmetric and asymmetric adjustable assistance functions, which can flexibly adjust the assistance intensity according to the patient's rehabilitation progress, gradually reducing the assistance from full mechanical assistance in the early stage. The system can also automatically generate optimized walking kinematic data based on the patient's body type and ability. Doctors can use the WanderTouch device to track data such as step length and joint angle in real - time to monitor the patient's functional recovery.

In terms of the scope of application, Atalante X is applicable to patients over 18 years old with complete/incomplete motor paraplegia and hemiplegia caused by brain injuries such as cerebrovascular accidents in the European Union. In the United States, it is applicable to patients with hemiplegia due to cerebrovascular accidents and spinal cord injuries from T5 - L5. However, it should be noted that this device is not suitable for scenarios such as sports and climbing stairs.

In addition, Atalante X obtained the European CE certification in 2019, was approved by the FDA for stroke rehabilitation in early 2023, and was further approved for spinal cord injury rehabilitation in February 2024, becoming one of the few rehabilitation exoskeletons with both European and American certifications.

Currently, the system has been deployed on four continents globally and has entered more than 100 rehabilitation centers. Well - known institutions such as the Kessler Foundation in the United States, the Villa Beretta Neurorehabilitation Center in Italy, and the Schön Klinik in Germany have all introduced it, serving more than 2,500 patients in total and helping them complete more than 14 million steps of walking training.

● Eve: A convenient home - care robot, with the first pilot deployed in New York

Model diagram of Eve. Source: Wandercraft official website

Eve, targeting the post - discharge rehabilitation scenario, is a strategic product of Wandercraft extending from medical institutions to the home scenario. The device is equipped with an edge - computing chip based on the NVIDIA Jetson platform and integrates the company's self - developed neural network model, which can simulate natural gait and dynamic balance responses. It uses a self - balancing structural design, allowing users to move independently without the help of crutches. The whole machine is lightweight, easy to wear and operate, and is suitable for post - discharge rehabilitation continuation or as a wheelchair replacement device.

Currently, Eve is in the clinical trial stage, mainly recruiting patients with spinal cord injuries at T6 and above, with basic upper - limb control ability and a healthy caregiver. The focus is to verify the device's stability in daily home environments, wearing tolerance, and user subjective feedback. According to the clinical progress, Eve is planned to be launched in the US market in 2026, and the first deployment pilot center, "Walk in New York", has been established in New York.

● Calvin - 40: The first humanoid robot, suitable for high - risk industrial labor

Model diagram of Calvin - 40. Source: Wandercraft official website

Calvin - 40 is the first humanoid robot developed by Wandercraft, specifically designed for repetitive or high - risk physical labor tasks in industrial scenarios. The robot inherits the gait control architecture of the Atalante platform, integrates the NVIDIA Isaac GR00T and Jetson control systems, and has the ability of whole - body self - balancing and autonomous navigation. Its prototype development cycle was only 40 days, and it is planned to complete the first batch of deployments in the Renault Group factories by the end of 2025, mainly used to support manual positions in the automobile manufacturing process to reduce the risk of musculoskeletal injuries to operators. Subsequent versions are expected to expand to the field of care - service robots.

It can be seen that these three product lines form Wandercraft's complete technological map targeting the medical, consumer, and industrial fields: Atalante X strengthens the medical technology foundation, Eve explores the personal consumer field, and Calvin - 40 explores the industrial market for technology applications. This multi - scenario collaborative product strategy shows its unique commercial resilience in the global exoskeleton track, which is conducive to the formation of a collaborative ecosystem in the future.

Cooperating with Renault and NVIDIA,

Collaborative innovation between capital and industry

In this round of financing, the entry of the Renault Group breaks the traditional financial investment model in the exoskeleton robot field. As a global automotive manufacturing giant, Renault not only registered as an investor but also, as an industrial partner, provided support for Wandercraft's Calvin - 40 humanoid robot from factory pilots to manufacturing resources and became the first commercial user for the product's commercialization.

Meanwhile, Wandercraft also reached a technical cooperation with NVIDIA. The two sides will conduct technical docking for physical AI training, simulation, and operation, thus constructing a three - computer solution for its robot development.

This in - depth resonance between capital and industry has brought an accelerator for Wandercraft's technology commercialization. With Renault's industrial orders and NVIDIA's technical support, Wandercraft is gradually transforming from a single rehabilitation system manufacturer to a robot platform enterprise targeting multi - scenario deployments.

In the medical device industry, the key for an enterprise to obtain a high valuation often lies not only in the performance of a single product but also in the continuity of the product pipeline, expansion potential, and clarity of the commercialization plan. Wandercraft's financing is an embodiment of the industry's recognition of this development model.

Policy guidance and accelerated implementation of robot technology standards

Turning our attention back to China, in recent years, with the maturity of AI technology and the continuous promotion of the application of lightweight materials such as carbon fiber, the application scenarios of exoskeleton robots have been continuously expanding. The Chinese exoskeleton robot market has shown remarkable growth. The market size is expected to reach 4.2 billion yuan in 2025, with an average annual compound growth rate of about 50% from 2023 to 2028. Exoskeleton robots have become one of the most potential segments in the intelligent rehabilitation equipment field.

The competitive advantage of domestic enterprises is rooted in the unique characteristics of the domestic market. On the one hand, according to a report from the National Health Commission in 2024, the total number of stroke patients (including cerebral infarction and cerebral hemorrhage) in China has exceeded 28 million, and about 80% of stroke patients will have various sequelae such as limb movement disorders. There are 3.74 million spinal cord injury patients, with about 90,000 new cases each year, and the rehabilitation demand has increased explosively.

On the other hand, policies have strongly supported the development of the exoskeleton robot industry in terms of technology, market, etc. From the "14th Five - Year Plan for the Development of the Robot Industry" issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in 2021 to the "Implementation Plan for the 'Robot +' Application Action" proposed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in 2023, exoskeleton robots are clearly listed as high - end medical equipment, and policies are used to guide the accelerated implementation of robot technology standards and promote the development of the industry.

Looking back at the industry development trajectory, from 2015 - 2018, due to increased capital investment in the domestic rehabilitation robot track, there was a situation of "a hundred enterprises competing". Pioneer enterprises such as Fourier Intelligence and Daei Robotics successively broke through the bottleneck of prototype development and launched the first - generation lower - limb rehabilitation robots. After 2018, as domestic exoskeleton robots successively obtained NMPA certifications, the industry entered a stage of standardized development. Since 2021, the relevant approval process has accelerated, and commercial competition among enterprises has become more intense.

Currently, domestic enterprises are working hard to make breakthroughs in niche fields. For example, Weisi Medical has developed the X - walk series of single - limb exoskeletons specifically for stroke - hemiplegia patients, MaiBu Robot's RELAX focuses on the rehabilitation training of children with cerebral palsy, and ChengTian Technology's EasyGo is a lightweight standing - assistance device suitable for disabled elderly people. These differentiated innovative products may become the key breakthrough points for the development of the domestic industry.

This article is from the WeChat public account “Arterial Network” (ID: vcbeat), author: Chen Maoyu, published by 36Kr with authorization.