CYBERDYNE, the Japanese technology company known for its HAL wearable cyborg device, and Pegasus Tech Ventures, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm, have launched a JPY 10 billion ($60 million) corporate venture capital fund to invest in startups across robotics, physical AI, healthcare, automation, and intelligent systems. CYBERDYNE is the sole limited partner, and Pegasus will serve as general partner through its Venture Capital-as-a-Service platform.
The fund is designed to give CYBERDYNE structured access to Silicon Valley and global innovation ecosystems, connecting the company with startups and technology partnerships that align with its long-term strategy around what it calls HCPS Cybernics with Physical AI – the fusion of biological systems, AI-robotics, and information systems across what CYBERDYNE terms the Human-Cyber-Physical Space.
CYBERDYNE’s Background and Strategic Rationale
CYBERDYNE was founded in 2004 by Professor Yoshiyuki Sankai of the University of Tsukuba. Its flagship product, HAL (Hybrid Assistive Limb), is a wearable exoskeleton that detects faint bioelectric signals on the skin’s surface and uses them to assist, enhance, or support physical movement. HAL is deployed in medical and rehabilitation settings in Japan and internationally, targeting patients with neurological and muscular conditions.
The company operates across two business lines: Cybernics Medical and Healthcare Innovation, connecting hospitals, homes, and workplaces through AI-driven analysis and treatment; and Cybernics Life Innovation, applying AI-enabled assistance to mobility, logistics, and work environments. Both lines are increasingly convergent with the physical AI infrastructure being built across humanoid robotics, autonomous systems, and wearable technology.
The CVC fund addresses a structural gap for a Japanese deep-tech company with established clinical technology but limited direct access to the startup ecosystem where the most relevant adjacent technologies are being developed. Pegasus manages over 40 funds and more than $2 billion in assets, with a portfolio that includes SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic, Airbnb, and Coinbase – a network that gives CYBERDYNE visibility into early-stage physical AI development that would be difficult to achieve independently.
Investment Focus
The fund will target startups working across robotics, physical AI, healthcare technology, automation, and intelligent systems. The investment thesis is oriented around CYBERDYNE’s core HCPS Cybernics framework – technologies that fuse human biological systems with AI and robotics to address aging populations, workforce shortages, and rising healthcare demands.
“CYBERDYNE is committed to advancing HCPS Cybernics with Physical AI and creating new value by fusing humans, AI-robotics and information systems,” said Professor Sankai. “By partnering with Pegasus Tech Ventures and leveraging its global innovation network, we look forward to accelerating technology development, business co-creation, and global expansion opportunities.”
The fund structure – a single corporate LP working through an experienced VC general partner – is a model that allows established industrial companies to participate in venture investing without building internal fund management capability, while maintaining strategic alignment between the portfolio and the corporate parent’s technology roadmap.
