Furhat Robotics is a Swedish social robotics company that develops human-interaction robots for research, education, healthcare, and customer service. The company was established as a spin-off from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and is best known for its table-top humanoid robot Furhat, which uses a back-projected face to display virtual characters, and for the mobile social robot Misty II. Its platforms have been used in academic research in cognitive science, psychology, human-computer interaction, and embodied Artificial intelligence, as well as in commercial settings such as customer service, education, and healthcare.
The company operates a platform-based business model, providing a software development kit (SDK) and a conversational operating system that allow third-party developers to build applications for its robots. Furhat Robotics has attracted attention for its collaborations with major corporations and its role in piloting social robotics in real-world environments.
History
Furhat Robotics was founded in 2014 by Samer Al Moubayed, Preben Wik, Jonas Beskow, and Gabriel Skantze, most of whom were affiliated with the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. The company emerged from Al Moubayed's doctoral research in speech technology and Artificial intelligence at KTH. Al Moubayed had previously studied computer science in Damascus, focusing on emotional speech synthesis, and completed a master's degree in speech and language technology in Belgium.
While developing a social robot prototype, Al Moubayed posted a video of the robot online, which attracted the attention of Disney's R&D team. He traveled to Pittsburgh in 2014 to collaborate on development, and later that year founded Furhat Robotics in Stockholm with support from KTH and Disney collaborators.
By 2017, the company had 13 employees and reported 50 customers, including Disney, Intel, Honda, Merck, KPMG, and Deutsche Telekom. In September 2017, it received $2.5 million in seed funding from venture capital firms Balderton Capital and LocalGlobe. In 2019, the company worked with Swedish recruitment firm TNG to develop Tengai, a robot designed to standardize interview processes.
In January 2022, Furhat Robotics acquired the U.S.-based Misty Robotics, incorporating its product line and technologies and adding a mobile robot platform to Furhat's stationary robots. The acquisition also allowed Furhat to market its products in the education and healthcare domains. As of 2025, the company's robotic platforms have been used by university research teams and companies in Sweden, the United Kingdom, Europe, Japan, and the Middle East.
Products
Furhat is a humanoid bust with a back-projected face capable of displaying various virtual characters. It supports interaction through voice, facial expressions, eye contact, and head movement. The robot is designed to engage in natural conversations and can be customized with different appearances and personalities.
Misty is a programmable social robot originally developed by U.S.-based startup Misty Robotics, which was spun out of Sphero in 2018. The Misty II platform, used in education, research, and front-desk assistant roles, has a mobile base, built-in sensors, and a customizable personality. Misty II is designed to navigate physical spaces and interact with people in dynamic environments.
Business Model
The company operates a platform-based business in which third-party developers build applications for its social robot interfaces. Revenue comes from B2B hardware sales, mainly to universities and research teams, software development kit (SDK) licenses, and enterprise partnerships. A 2021 study of social robotics in manufacturing identified Furhat as one of a small number of companies piloting human-interaction robots in commercial settings.
The platform combines a robotic head with a back-projected face with an SDK and conversational operating system. Developers can use Kotlin-based scripting, Python APIs, or graphical, no-code tools. It also integrates third-party text-to-speech and automatic speech recognition systems, voice cloning, and large language models. This integration allows developers to create sophisticated conversational experiences using advanced Machine learning techniques.
Tengai, a recruitment robot developed with the Swedish hiring firm TNG, was built on Furhat's hardware and operating system with its own dialogue model for structured job interviews. It was spun off in 2019 into Tengai AB, which continues to license Furhat's technology. The consultancy Rohrbeck Heger cited Furhat as an example of a startup building a developer ecosystem around a platform-based business model.
Awards and Recognition
In 2019, Furhat Robotics was selected as a finalist in the Robotics and Hardware category at the SXSW Interactive Innovation Awards. The company was also among ten recipients of the Netexplo Innovation Award, presented during the Netexplo Forum at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. These recognitions highlight the company's contributions to the field of social robotics and human-computer interaction.
Research and Applications
Furhat Robotics' platforms have been widely used in academic research, particularly in fields such as cognitive science, psychology, and human-computer interaction. Researchers have employed the robots to study social behavior, language processing, and human-robot interaction. The company's technology has also been applied in customer service, education, and healthcare settings, where social robots can assist with tasks such as information provision, training, and patient engagement.