Nashville-based occupational exosuit startup company HeroWear announced Thursday that it has landed $5 million in venture capital funding.
According to a release, VC firms White Road Investments and Engage partnered to provide the Series A funding round.
HeroWear plans to use the funds to advance product development and expand its employee roster in an effort to continue delivering client service and onsite training related to its Apex 2 exosuit.
The exosuit offers elastic bands that serve as an extra set of back muscles to assist, for example, factory workers and military personnel who lift and bend repetitively, reducing strain by an estimated 20 percent to 40 percent.
HeroWear was co-founded by serial entrepreneur Mark Harris and Karl Zelik, the latter a Vanderbilt Institute of National Security associate professor of mechanical and biomedical engineering and physical medicine and rehabilitation.
The company received $50,000 in start-up grants from Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs and $100,000 from Launch Tennessee (read here).
The technology has been deployed at Fort Campbell and other U.S. Army installations.
“I am excited about the opportunity to bring in two new capital partners who enable us to further our mission of helping workers across the world live happier, healthier lives,” Harris said in the release.
“Through our partnership with Engage and White Road Investments, we look forward to accelerating our growth and expanding our sales and services teams to keep up with the demand we’ve seen in the market.”
Based in St. Helena, Calif., White Road Investments invests in active lifestyle and sustainable companies.
Engage is a collaborative corporate venture program backed by 14 enterprises and Georgia Tech University. Its partners include Chick-fil-A, The Coca-Cola Company, Cox Enterprises, Delta Air Lines and Georgia-Pacific, among others.