Japanese Tech Startup Raises $4 Million for Smart Litter Box

Hachi Tama Inc. has announced it has completed its pre-series A funding in Japan, cumulative total $4 million ($1=¥100). The company will use the funds, in part, to further improve the accuracy of the patented early-detection algorithm included in their smart litter box, toletta.

Hachi Tama is introducing toletta in the U.S. The pet-tech startup created the litter box to help cat owners and veterinarians work more closely together to improve feline health.

The toletta litter box is equipped with the Internet of things (IoT) and patented measurement technology that constantly monitors a cat’s weight fluctuations, urine frequency, urine volume and more. Cat owners can share this data with their veterinarian as a way to help identify signs of urinary disease before it’s too late.

An artificial intelligence (AI) camera in the litter box captures an image of the cat’s face. The camera uses patented deep-learning technology to automatically identify an individual cat even when there are multiple cats in the household using the same litter box.

“I am so excited to introduce this Japanese cat-friendly litter box to the U.S.” said Koji Hori, Founder and CEO of Hachi Tama. “We have created a video message for American cat lovers.”

Japan is a cat-loving country, and when toletta is ready to enter the U.S. market, it will do so with the enthusiastic endorsement of Japanese cat owners, the company said.