Fosun funding confirms Aubo's rise in co-robots

Aubo (Beijing) Robotics Technology Co Ltd, a Chinese collaborative robot (or co-robot/cobot) maker, raised 60 million yuan ($9 million) in series A funding from Fosun Group on Nov 7.

Fosun is bullish on China's co-robot market and expects Aubo to win 30 percent share of the local market, which is forecast to reach 1.3 billion yuan by 2020.

Unlike traditional industrial robots, a co-robot can interact with human co-workers in a shared workspace without imperilling the latter. In contract, industrial robots are mostly operated autonomously or with limited human guidance.