Robotic Exoskeleton company Roam raises a $12 million Series A

Bay Area-based robotic exoskeleton company Roam announced this morning that it has secured a $12 million series A. The round, led by Yamaha Motors, with investments from Boost VC, Heuristics Capital Partners, Menlo Ventures, R7 Partners, Spero Ventures, Valor Equity Partners and Venture Investment Associates, brings the company’s total funding up to around $15 million.

Investors are understandably bullish on the space, which has far-reaching implications for industrial workers and mobility. Of course, Roam’s got a fair bit of competition in the robotic exoskeleton category, including prominent names like Ekso and SuitX. So far, however, the company has looked to carve out a niche with a product focused on skiers.

The Elevate, first announced in March, will finally be available for demo rental over the Christmas holiday in select Lake Tahoe locations, followed by Park City, Utah over the Presidents’ Day holiday. This new round will go a ways toward boosting sales and marketing for the first product.

In addition to the funding, Yamaha partner Amish Parashar and Spero general partner Shripriya Mahesh will be joining Roam’s board of directors. Here’s the former on the deal, “By making these robotic exoskeletons affordable, scalable, and powerful Roam has removed the biggest barriers to widespread adoption. We envision these products will one day be commonly used to create new thrilling experiences and support human mobility.”