Japanese Startup Raises $4 Million and Aims to Bring Smart Litter Box to U.S.
The toletta® litter box tracks disease signs using IoT and AI, with the goal of helping improve feline health and further strengthening veterinary-client bonds.
KANAGAWA, Japan, Jan. 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hachi Tama Inc. announced it has completed its Pre-Series A funding in Japan, cumulative total $4 million ($1=¥100). The company will use the funds, in part, to further improve the accuracy of the patented early-detection algorithm included in their smart litter box, toletta®.
Hachi Tama will debut toletta® in the U.S. by exhibiting for the first time at VMX, the world's leading veterinary conference, from January 18 to 22 in Orlando, Fla. The pet-tech startup created the litter box to help cat owners and veterinarians work more closely together to improve feline health.
The toletta® litter box is equipped with the Internet of things (IoT) and patented measurement technology that constantly monitors a cat's weight fluctuations, urine frequency, urine volume and more. Cat owners can share this data with their veterinarian as a way to help identify signs of urinary disease before it's too late.
An artificial intelligence (AI) camera in the litter box captures an image of the cat's face. The camera uses patented deep-learning technology to automatically identify an individual cat even when there are multiple cats in the household using the same litter box.
"I am so excited to introduce this Japanese cat-friendly litter box to the U.S." said Koji Hori, Founder and CEO of Hachi Tama. "We have created a video message for American cat lovers. Please take a look at https://youtu.be/W-J8JLX-kHs."
Japan is a cat-loving country, and when toletta® is ready to enter the U.S. market, it will do so with the enthusiastic endorsement of Japanese cat owners. toletta® ranked as the No. 1 best seller on Amazon Japan on Cyber Monday in 2019.
Visit tolettacat.com for updates from the Hachi Tama team on its progress and product launches.
About Hachi Tama
Hachi Tama is an IoT/AI startup headquartered in Enoshima, Kanagawa, Japan, which is famous as a "cats' island." Hachi Tama was the Japan representative of Hardware Cup 2018 and one of the five noteworthy startups in Red Herring. For more information on Hachi Tama's technology and team, visit tolettacat.com.
SOURCE Hachi Tama Inc.
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