A startup founded by a researcher at Tokyo University of Science that developed a wearable exoskeleton to support heavy lifting is hoping to make further inroads overseas in nations that have aging populations like Japan.
Set up by Hiroshi Kobayashi, a professor at the university, in 2013, venture firm Innophys, hopes its products will be used in the care and farm fields in Europe as well as China and South Korea, which face similar age-related social issues to Japan.
"Demand for assistive suits will get greater and greater as populations age. We've got a chance at being top in the world," said Innophys Executive Officer Masaru Yoda.