Tombot, a Los Angeles-based company that makes a robotic dog for people who can’t keep a real one, has closed a $7m Series A3 funding round to move its flagship product from development to production.
The company said on June 24 that the round attracted investment from Caduceus Capital Partners, Wavemaker 360, Lutheran Foundation for Long Term Living, and Florida Community Health Network, a mix of health care and aging services backers rather than mainstream consumer technology names.
This money is intended to carry Tombot to a planned program in the fall. The company says the funding will allow it to increase production, expand operations, and accelerate commercialization ahead of a Fall 2026 customer launch, its first shipment to paying customers.
It also says it has already taken more than 23,000 pre-orders and waitlist registrations for the product, a number it cites as proof of demand before a single unit is shipped.
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That product is a robotic Labrador puppy named Jennie, designed to behave like an eight- to ten-week-old dog. According to the company, Jennie is fully autonomous and designed to imitate the movements and responses of a real puppy, the idea is to bring the companionship and health benefits sought after by a living animal without the bills of feeding, travel, or vet.
Tombot is available to more than 300 million people worldwide living with dementia or mild cognitive impairment, and to people dealing with anxiety, loneliness, autism, and PTSD.
Tombot places Jennie squarely in the conversation about the aging population, the shortage of caregivers, and the social isolation that comes with both, the same set of pressures that the growing field of dementia care technology has been trying to address.
The company describes its robotic companions as a way to provide comfort and emotional connection to older adults who could benefit from a pet but are unable to care for one.
“This funding represents an important milestone as we move from product development to commercial scale,” said founder and CEO Tom Stevens, who said the idea grew from his mother.
He pitched the investors as backers who see “a significant market opportunity and positive social impact for companion robots,” and said the funding will allow the company to meet demand, make its launch, and build a broader product line.
Investors echo the essence of social influence. Dr. Mark Gusek, who is the president and chief executive officer of the Lutheran Foundation, said the ability of technology “it became clear immediately” within minutes of seeing the robot, he described Jennie as an incompetent product “change everyday lives” of people affected by mental challenges who cannot safely keep a pet.
Ryan McKindles, managing partner at Caduceus Capital Partners, pointed to “the convergence of an aging population, a shortage of caregivers, and growing loneliness” as the reason for the bet. Caduceus led the Tombot series A last year and returned this round.
Tombot has been building for a while now. Jennie first appeared on the market in early 2024, and the company says it has since garnered interest from consumers, health care providers, senior living professionals, and child care organizations.
The funding leaves it at the intersection of robotics, health care, and consumer technology, a position many companies have sought and a few have become product fleets.
And it’s a common number in robotics right now, the same size as the seed round for another consumer robotics startup that pitched earlier this year to take one job off human hands.
Whether Jennie comes now is a question of execution rather than logic. Tombot has orders, sponsors, and a launch date. What it doesn’t have, by its own account, is a track record of putting a dog in the hands of customers.
The fall will show that the waiting list turns into a business, which is the test all pre-launch hardware companies must finally live.
