Verve Motion Secures $20M Funding to Expand Exosuit Operations

Verve Motion, a startup building a robotic “exosuit” to help workers complete physically demanding tasks, raised $20 million in a Series B round. Cybernetix Ventures led this round with participation from Construct Capital, Pillar VC, OUP, and angel investors.

The new cash brings Verve’s total funds raised to $40 million. Co-founder and CEO Ignacio Galiana told TechCrunch the funds will be used for expanding Verve’s market share and manufacturing efforts.

“Verve is pioneering a new class of connected wearable technology for the industrial sector by integrating robotics into functional apparel,” Galiana said. “The wearable robotics category is a relatively new industry and, as any burgeoning category, it faces the task of awareness and building the compelling case for need in the workplace.”

Verve’s origins lie in a Harvard-run biodesign lab at the Wyss Institute and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Co-founders developed tech to mitigate fatigue and injury risks for military personnel as part of a DARPA-funded initiative.

Galiana later launched Verve in 2020 to commercialize the team’s tech for industrial, retail, and manufacturing settings beyond combat.

“At many warehouses and fulfillment centers, the average worker often lifts up to 50,000 pounds a day over hundreds of tasks,” Galiana said. “These repetitive, labor-intensive operations can result in overexertion, injuries, fatigue, lost productivity, and high employee turnover. Verve’s mission is to power the human workplace through people-centric robotics.”

Verve’s powered exosuit is customizable to workers and tasks, intended to be worn like a regular backpack. It’s equipped with sensors that automatically capture “risky” movements, such as excessive bending and twisting, in addition to productivity metrics like the number of lifts, hours in use, and weight offloaded.

The exosuit’s selling point is it mitigates the risk of injury, boosts productivity, and is more practical than “passive” alternatives or bulkier, rigid exoskeleton designs.

“For the C-Suite level manager, reducing injuries and fatigue leads to a happier and healthier workforce while decreasing workman’s compensation and injury payouts,” Galiana said. “Because users are less fatigued, overall productivity goes up.”

Some concerns include the cost and privacy issues. However, the Cambridge-based company has sold around 1,000 exosuits and has pilot programs with chains like Albertsons and Wegmans.

“The challenge [we face] is to create a safer and more efficient future for industrial workers,” Galiana said. “As we heighten awareness regarding the advantages of soft exosuit, we anticipate a rapid transition towards a future where wearable robotic technology seamlessly merges with our everyday work attire.”

Aspirational? Perhaps. Time will tell.