What You Should Know:
– Tombot, a leading innovator in robotic companion technology, has successfully closed an oversubscribed $6.1 million Series A funding round to support its groundbreaking line of health and senior care products.
– The company gained national attention at CES 2025 with its lifelike robotic puppy, Jennie.
Tombot Raises $6.1M Series A to Revolutionize Senior and Mental Health Care with Robotic Companion Animals
Tombot is strategically positioned at the intersection of assistive technology and mental health, targeting an urgent and underserved need:
- Over 300 million seniors globally suffer from dementia or mild cognitive impairment, and many are unable to care for live pets despite the profound need for companionship.
- Millions of others living with mental health challenges face similar barriers to pet ownership.
Jennie, Tombot’s flagship product, is designed specifically to treat Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD). Developed with clinical experts, patients, and their families—and brought to life with artistic design from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop—Jennie mimics the presence and health benefits of live animal companionship without the risks.
Key features include:
- Responsiveness to touch, voice, movement, and other sensory inputs
- A fully cleanable, rechargeable design suitable for care environments
- An optional caregiver app to customize behavior and reduce caregiver burden
Jennie is intended for use in private homes, memory care units, assisted living facilities, and other settings where live animals may be impractical or unsafe.
The funding round was led by Caduceus Capital Partners, a Nashville-based healthcare investment firm specializing in early-stage digital health innovations. Existing investors also participated.
“We identified the need for robotic companions years ago and believe the market is now poised for exponential growth,” said Dave Vreeland, Senior Managing Partner at Caduceus. “By 2030, the U.S. alone will have 73 million seniors facing challenges in companionship and chronic disease management—needs that far exceed what human caregivers alone can address. Tombot is uniquely positioned to lead this new sector.”
Tombot plans to use the Series A funds to:
- Expand its team
- Finalize engineering and conduct regulatory and safety certifications
- Begin customer shipments to over 16,000 pre-order and waitlist customers
Founded in 2017, Tombot was inspired by Tom Stevens’ personal experience caring for his mother with progressive dementia, which forced the family to rehome her beloved dog. Drawing on the success of a previous startup—one of the world’s largest legal automation firms acquired after a successful exit—the founding team brings proven experience in scaling transformative technologies.
