Rice-Sized Robots: Robeauté Raises $28M to Advance Brain Surgery

• Blockchain Council
• May 30, 2025

French medtech startup Robeauté has raised $28 million to take its microrobotic neurosurgery platform to the next stage. These robots are the size of a grain of rice and are designed to navigate deep within the human brain. The company plans to use this funding to start human trials, seek regulatory approvals, and expand into the United States.

This breakthrough could make brain surgeries less invasive, more precise, and safer for patients. Here’s everything you need to know about what Robeauté is building, how it works, and why this funding round is a big deal for the future of healthcare.

What Is Robeauté?

Robeauté is a Paris-based startup founded in 2017. It specializes in building microrobots that can enter the brain through tiny incisions. Once inside, they can move through brain tissue and perform complex tasks such as delivering drugs, collecting samples, or placing implants.

These microrobots are built to be minimally invasive. That means surgeons can reach delicate parts of the brain without large incisions or major tissue damage. This kind of tool could change how we treat tumors, epilepsy, brain injuries, and neurodegenerative diseases.

What Makes the Microrobots Special?

These robots are incredibly small — about the size of a grain of rice. But they’re packed with advanced features.

• They can move on curved paths: Traditional surgical tools are rigid, but Robeauté’s bots can twist and turn through the brain’s natural structure.
• They’re modular: Different tools can be added depending on the surgery — including cameras, needles, or drug capsules.
• They are trackable in real-time: Surgeons can monitor where the robot is at all times, which is key for safety.
• They work in soft, fluid environments: The brain is a complex organ, and these robots are designed to move gently through it.

Robeauté Microrobot Features

What Will the $28 Million Be Used For?

Robeauté’s latest funding round was led by Plural, Cherry Ventures, and Kindred Capital. It also included backing from Brainlab, LocalGlobe, and APEX Ventures. This capital will be used for:

• Preparing for first-in-human clinical trials planned for 2026
• Expanding operations in the United States, including FDA approval
• Scaling up manufacturing and hardware testing
• Hiring engineering, medical, and regulatory staff

The company wants to prove its technology is safe and effective in real surgeries. If successful, Robeauté will become one of the first companies in the world to bring surgical microrobots to the operating room.

How Microrobots Could Change Neurosurgery

Neurosurgery is one of the most complex and risky areas of medicine. Even a small error can cause permanent damage. Traditional surgeries often require large incisions, and some brain areas are hard to reach. Robeauté’s technology offers an alternative that could:

• Lower the risk of complications
• Reduce recovery times
• Enable treatments in places that are currently considered inoperable
• Help doctors collect real-time data from inside the brain

In the long term, these microrobots could even be used to implant neural devices or deliver targeted therapies for conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

Potential Benefits of Robeauté’s Technology

Why the Timing Matters

The field of surgical robotics has seen rapid growth, but most robots today are large systems used for general surgery. Robeauté is focusing on a narrow niche — neurosurgery — with a unique, miniaturized solution.

There’s growing demand for minimally invasive brain treatments, especially as diseases like dementia rise globally. Hospitals are also looking for ways to improve accuracy while reducing costs. Robeauté fits both of these needs.

The startup’s funding comes at a time when AI and robotics are merging to reshape how healthcare is delivered. Robeauté’s microrobots could eventually work with AI systems that plan the safest paths or analyze the brain during the procedure.

Real-World Use Cases

The most promising uses for Robeauté’s technology include:

• Removing hard-to-reach brain tumors
• Delivering drugs directly to a tumor or seizure focus
• Performing biopsies without needing open-skull surgery
• Monitoring brain signals during treatment
• Implanting microdevices to help with long-term therapy

If these applications are validated in trials, the impact could be massive — not just in neurology but in other organ systems too.

The Road Ahead

Robeauté still has challenges to overcome. It must prove its microrobots are safe in humans. It must also meet strict medical regulations. But the team believes its early lab results are strong enough to move forward confidently.

If human trials go well, the technology could be in hospitals by 2028.

The company is also looking into potential partnerships with neurology research labs and university hospitals in the U.S. to test the robots in clinical environments.

Conclusion

Robeauté is entering a high-stakes space with a bold new approach: use microrobots to perform brain surgery in ways never done before. With $28 million in new funding, global interest, and promising early tech, it has a chance to set a new standard for minimally invasive neurosurgery.

If you’re interested in the technologies behind these robotic systems — like how they’re trained, deployed, and integrated with real-time data — an AI Certification can help you understand their development from end to end.

For those curious about how microrobotics connect with predictive models, diagnostics, and brain data, the Data Science Certification is a great way to build technical fluency in data-driven healthcare tools.

And if you’re exploring how innovations like Robeauté’s can be turned into viable products or businesses, the Marketing and Business Certification offers a solid foundation in product-market strategy, growth, and global expansion.