Isaraeli startup UPnRIDE Robotics Ltd. has announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared its Robotic Standing Wheelchair for marketing and use in the US. The company is based in Yokneam near Haifa. UPnRIDE founder and president Dr. Amit Goffer said, "The approval of our UPnRIDE standing wheelchair is another very important milestone for UPnRIDE Robotics Ltd. in our mission to offer health benefits and improved quality of life to millions of people suffering from walking impairments."
This first smart and robotic mobility device provides full functionality, both in standing and sitting positions. The UPnRIDE will be available soon for wheelchair users and the elderly in the US.
Dr. Goffer added "I have had a long-standing vision that all people confined to a wheelchair should have access to enhanced mobility, and enjoy the many health benefits associated with the ability to get by in a standing position. With the introduction of UPnRIDE, this dream is becoming a reality."
Dr. Goffer, who is himself a quadriplegic following a vehicle accident, previously founded ReWalk Robotics Ltd. (Nasdaq: RWLK), which has developed an FDA approved wearable robotic exoskeleton that provides powered hip and knee motion to enable individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) to stand upright and walk.
The FDA approval comes several weeks after the company announced that it had completed raising the balance of about $1 million through the Together crowdfunding platform.
Together Crowdfunding cofounder Elad Shemesh said, "UPnRIDE is one of the first ventures that has met the high standards that we set in order to be accepted for a public financing campaign, and it is among the most promising companies in the Israeli economy. Only at the start of the month was the financing round on the platform completed, which crossed the target amount due to the huge vote of confidence from both sophisticated investors and the public at large who benefitted from an opportunity to invest alongside sophisticated investors with a proven record. We see the receipt of FDA approval as additional confirmation of the enormous potential that we identified in the team and the revolutionary technology that they have developed while our investors have benefitted from a substantial milestone that will raise the value of their investments."
The UPnRIDE is innovative and unique in that it provides users with full, safe, functional mobility in a standing position, in practically any urban environment, both indoors and outdoors. The UPnRIDE mobility device is suitable for most wheelchair users, including paraplegics, quadriplegics, elderly and people suffering from MS, ALS, CP, stroke or TBI etc.
UPnRIDE CEO Oren Tamari said, "Empowered by the FDA approval, UPnRIDE Robotics Ltd. will now develop a distribution and service centers network in the USA to enable US users to benefit from this innovative product."
He added, "By enabling upright mobility, UPnRIDE delivers numerous health, economic and societal benefits. It diminishes the visibility of the disability, providing wheelchair users with a fresh, new perspective of the world, of themselves, and of life."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on September 20, 2019
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