How do robots touch and feel? As AI systems enter the physical world—from robots on the factory floor to surgical arms in operating rooms—the data associated with that question is becoming more and more valuable.
“There are going to be 10 billion robots on the planet by 2050. They’re going to need steering wheels.”
That has fuelled the work of Montréal-based startup Haply Robotics since 2018. The haptic technology company, which makes precision controllers for interacting with 3D objects, is looking to scale up its hardware-software platform that controls the motion of AI systems interacting with the real world.
“There are going to be 10 billion robots on the planet by 2050,” Haply co-founder and CEO Colin Gallacher claimed to BetaKit. “They’re going to need steering wheels.”
Last week, the company closed $11.75 million USD ($16 million CAD) in equity as a “seed-plus” financing round, led by Atlanta-based Sound Media Ventures. Participating investors included the Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund, the South Korean Hanwha Asset Management Venture Fund, Toronto deep tech fund Two Small Fish Ventures, and a follow-on investment from the BDC Capital Deep Tech Venture Fund (which has since wound down further investments following layoffs).
The new funds, which Haply will use to fuel its plans for expansion, manufacturing, and hiring, bring its total raised to more than $20 million CAD. It had previously received support from the federal government under Innovative Solutions Canada.
Haply’s hardware devices and associated software record pressure, resistance, and interaction forces in real time—allowing machines to “feel” these forces, too, and adapt their motions accordingly.
“Like humans, robots will ultimately need the equivalent of five senses,” Allen Lau, co-founder and operating partner at Two Small Fish Ventures, told BetaKit in an email. “The potential is that Haply can become one of the defining, world-class companies that owns the touch layer in robotics, and that is extremely exciting.”
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The company has developed devices like the Inverse3, a controller device that records movement input with microscopic precision, and the Minverse, which is a smaller, more portable version of the Inverse3. The manufacturing happens at its multi-level Montréal headquarters, tucked next to the trendy Bar Darling, in the city’s Plateau neighbourhood.
Though Gallacher did not share Haply’s current annual revenue, the company claimed it is growing by 150-percent year over year. The company has also generated buzz by winning awards at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show, including The Verge’s 2026 Most Fun award.
In a recent visit to Haply’s Montréal office, BetaKit tested some of its 3D precision mouses. The 3D controller is fun to use and gives a striking amount of pressure feedback, allowing the user to “feel” precise brushstrokes scraping against a digital canvas, or the grooves of a domino, while remote-controlling a robotic arm.
The company says it has more than 150 customers, 30 of which are Fortune 500 companies. Haply has repeatedly collaborated with chipmaker Nvidia, codeveloping demos for CES and other trade shows, while building applications on top of the tech giant’s Omniverse physical AI platform.
Physical AI—put simply, AI that interacts with the physical world—is having a moment in Canada. Toronto’s Waabi, which has developed an autonomous system to guide self-driving trucks, just raised the country’s largest-ever VC equity round. Montréal’s Vention secured a $110-million USD Series D round last month to bring its physical AI platform into more manufacturing plants worldwide.
The applications of Haply’s technology range from designing video games to performing surgery to flying military drones. According to Gallacher, Haply’s tech is best for robotics applications in situations that are dangerous, remote, hard to see, or require “superhuman” abilities—from lifting something heavy to working at a microscopic scale.
In Canada, heavy industries like mining or oil and gas are “prime targets” to leverage haptic robotics. Gallacher added that the motion data gathered from Haply’s tech could eventually be useful for remote defensive or military systems, such as in Canada’s Arctic, where tactile (and tactical) human input is still required.
“You’re going to need people to step in, supervise, and be able to control these systems at a distance,” Gallacher said. “And that’s where we think we are particularly well placed to excel.”
Across the broad market where 3D motion data could prove handy, Gallacher sees two broad sales streams. The first is digital applications, like 3D modelling. The second is robotics and data collection, including warehouse automation, where Haply is seeing some of its largest contracts so far.
Next steps for Haply include opening a new office in California, bolstering its manufacturing capabilities, and expanding its team of roughly 50 people to serve more enterprise and government clients.
All images courtesy Haply Robotics.