Start-up Wandercraft, which went through IncubAlliance Paris-Saclay and is behind the first self-balancing walking exoskeleton, announces the closing of a 40 million euro fundraising round.

It was with a somewhat audacious project that Wandercraft walked through the doors of IncubAlliance in 2012: to enable wheelchair users to walk again. Ten years later, many milestones have already been reached and the dream has partially become a reality: after initial clinical trials in the Paris region and Auvergne, a €15 million fundraising round in 2017, and the commercialization of Atalante, a balanced walking exoskeleton that aids in relearning to walk, to healthcare facilities in 2019, the company reached another decisive step at the beginning of 2022 by raising €40 million from the American fund Quadrant Management and Bpifrance. MACSF, Malakoff Humanis, AG2R La Mondiale, and the Mutuelles Impact and Sofiouest funds also participated, as well as existing investors XAnge, Eurazeo, Cemag Invest, and LBO France. This could accelerate the development of a new exoskeleton intended for use in cities and at home.

Wandercraft, a startup specializing in dynamic walking robotics, was founded in 2012 by Nicolas Simon, Alexandre Boulanger, and Matthieu Masselin, all graduates of the same class at École Polytechnique. Today, it is considered the world leader in autonomous skeletons. This recognition is due to the success of its self-balancing walking exoskeleton, Atalante. The result of several years of development, this exoskeleton, coupled with machine learning systems, assists individuals in relearning to walk during rehabilitation sessions, while also reducing the workload for medical staff. It is currently used by the Henri Mondor Hospital Group, Rothschild Hospital in Paris, Raymond-Poincaré Hospital in Garches, and the Trois Soleils Clinic in Seine-et-Marne for the care of individuals with quadriplegia, paraplegia, or multiple sclerosis, for example.

Thanks to the 40 million raised in this Series C, Wandercraft plans to take another step in its "Mobility for All" mission by accelerating the launch of a new version of its exoskeleton intended for use not in healthcare facilities, but in the city or at home by people suffering from partial or total walking impairment. «With the support of patients, healthcare professionals, and the DeepTech community, the Wandercraft team has created a unique technology for rehabilitation that will soon allow wheelchair users to improve their independence, mobility, and health.», declares Matthieu Masselin, president of Wandercraft. A new and ambitious challenge that Wandercraft intends to meet thanks to the support of the health insurance providers MACSF, Malakoff Humanis, and AG2R La Mondiale, who are committed to« to support the development of uses and the deployment of Wandercraft within their communities of insured individuals and medical professionals ».

Part of the funding will also be used to accelerate the rollout of Atalante, its flagship exoskeleton, in the United States, where Wandercraft has already forged numerous partnerships, notably with the California Institute of Technology and the University of Michigan. As it prepares to celebrate its tenth anniversary, a new chapter is beginning for Wandercraft. The remarkable journey of this startup, which dreamed of enabling wheelchair users to walk, is only just beginning…

About Wandercraft

Wandercraft was founded in 2012 by a group of engineers who refused to accept that the wheelchair should remain the only means of transportation for people unable to walk and believed they could create a better solution for mobility and independence. Wandercraft builds autonomous walking exoskeletons. The first version, Atalante, was launched in 2019 and is used by rehabilitation and neurology hospitals in Europe and the USA. Atalante offers many patients innovative care based on realistic, hands-free, and crutch-free locomotion.

Wandercraft is developing a personal version of the exoskeleton for use in the city and at home. It will allow wheelchair users to improve their independence, mobility, and health in daily life.

For more information: www.wandercraft.eu