One robot, many jobs: “Armo,” born on the retail floor, is changing how stores look

Yasutaka Kasagi, CEO of MUSE, which develops the store robot “Armo” and has announced funding totaling 1.75 billion yen, and Keisuke Tatsuoka of ALPHA, the lead investor, talk about where his commitment to robots began, what led him to start the company, and why MUSE is taking on the United States.

Topics include Armo, a single robot that handles carrying, shelf photography, guidance and promotion, now in about 70 stores across 15 retailers in Japan; his path from a liberal-arts background through accounting, an audit firm, investment banking and a robotics startup to founding MUSE; and what the investor, who led the previous round while at Global Brain and this one at ALPHA, valued in the company.