The verified answer
As of Oct 2026, DEPLOY verifies PARO Robots: 2 models, 3 deployments across 3 regions. 1 source back the record.
CategoryCompanion robots
Overview
PARO Robots is a Japanese company developing PARO, an advanced interactive therapeutic robot designed as a baby harp seal for use in hospitals, nursing homes, and care facilities. Invented by Takanori Shibata at Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), PARO is FDA-classified as a medical device and deployed in over 30 countries to provide animal therapy benefits for patients with dementia and other conditions.
Verified record
- Verified deployments
- 3 deployments on file
- Active incidents
- None on file
Key facts
Focus
Robot
Developer
Recognition
Customers
Technology
Inventor
FDA
Deployed in
Form
Data & sources
Web sources
1
1 source backing this record.View all →
Models (2)
View all models →Current platform
PARO
PARO is an advanced interactive therapeutic robot designed as a baby harp seal, FDA-classified as a Class II medical device. It is used in hospitals, nursing homes, and care facilities in over 30 countries to provide animal therapy benefits for patients with dementia, depression, and other conditions.
Previous platform
PARO
PARO is an interactive therapeutic robot shaped like a baby harp seal, developed by Japan's AIST; certified by Guinness World Records as the world's most therapeutic robot, it uses touch, light, hearing, temperature, and posture sensors to respond to people and is used in dementia and elder care.
Partnerships
Every company PARO Robots has built with, alongside the ones only announced in a press release.
Most-frequent partners
- 1AIST National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology1× joint
- 2Teknologisk Institut1× joint
Most recent
PARO Robots on the deployment map
View the global map3 verified deployments across 3 regions, newest verified Jan 2008. Explore where PARO Robots's robots are operating, by place and type.
View the full PARO Robots deployment record →
Relationships
Current leadership (1)
- Takanori Shibata Inventorsecondary-verified
Founders (1)
- Takanori Shibatasole
Safety record
No incidents on record for PARO Robots.
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Full safety record: incidents, sourcing, and exposure data →
Operator customers (1)
- PARO Robots3 deployments
Recent coverage
PARO Robots in third-party press
Peers
144 peers across 1 segment. Every PARO Robots competitor derived from shared form-factor and application-domain edges.
service(144)
113 companies in this segment · competitive (HHI 831.3520919269878) · leader Bond at 1957%
- 1X Technologiesdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- A&K Roboticsdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- Aescapedirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- Allen Control Systemsdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- Amazondirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- Amity Roboticsdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
Financial state
- Reporting basis
- private_reported
- Lifecycle stage
- early
- Counterparty risk class
- moderate
Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Partnerships
2 total · 2 operating
Every company PARO Robots has built with, alongside the ones only announced in a press release.
Most recent
Most-frequent partners
- 1AIST National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology1× joint
- 2Teknologisk Institut1× joint
All 2 partnerships
open in the atlas →- PARO Robots x Teknologisk Institut Europe DistributionwithTeknologisk Institutdistribution—operating
- PARO Robots x AIST Japan DevelopmentwithAIST National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technologydevelopment—operating
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Record createdJun 24, 2026
Added to the verified registry
- Deployment verifiedVerifiedJan 1, 2008
PARO at Denmark
- Deployment verifiedVerifiedJan 1, 2003
PARO at Worldwide (30+ countries)
- Deployment verifiedVerifiedJan 1, 2003
PARO at Japan
Sources (1)
Common questions
What is PARO Robots?
What does PARO Robots make?
Who competes with PARO Robots?
Who is the CEO of PARO Robots?
Where is PARO Robots headquartered?
Where does PARO Robots operate robots?
How many robots has PARO Robots deployed?
Is PARO Robots a top robotics company?
When was PARO Robots founded?
Is PARO Robots safe?
Methodology: Verified · 1 source (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-08-21
Verification posture
Verified
Low confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-08-21
Sources by quality tier
- 1
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for PARO Robots.Peer companies
- Roborock20 models
- Ecovacs Robotics19 models
- SharkNinja14 models
- iRobot9 models
- Mammotion7 models
- DLR Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics6 models
In the press
Recent coverage mentioning PARO Robots from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
Man sentenced for murdering San Francisco toddler
(KRON) -- A San Francisco Superior Court judge sentenced a killer to serve two terms of life without the possibility of parole after he was convicted by a jury for a 2005 double…
Man sentenced to life in prison for deadly ambush shooting of LASD deputy
A man convicted of carrying out a deadly, ambush-style shooting against an L.A. County sheriff's deputy in broad daylight three years ago has been sentenced to life in prison…
Tim Heidecker Is Bringing His Joe Rogan Parody Show to The Onion
Five years after the comedian went viral with a 12-hour blabberthon mocking the king of bro podcasting, he’s back in character to shill a supplement called “Crab Salts.”
Kyrgyz Presidential Election Set for January 2027, Candidates Start to Step Forward
So far, incumbent President Sadyr Japarov and Omurbek Suvanaliev – a politician and former minister of internal affairs – have announced their intentions to run.
Kim Aris On the Campaign to Free Aung San Suu Kyi
As Myanmar's “parody democracy” seeks regional re-engagement, the whereabouts of the Nobel laureate remain a closely guarded secret.
San Bernardino County man arrested for alleged possession of child sexual abuse material
A San Bernardino County man was arrested for the alleged possession of child sexual abuse material. The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department identified the suspect as…
Jimmy Kimmel trolls Trumps allies with parody pharmaceutical ad
Jimmy Kimmel has mocked Trump's allies with a parody pharmaceutical commercial.
Parole agent honored for heroism during Oakland shooting
(KRON) -- The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) will honor 20 employees for their bravery and heroism Friday at the department's annual Medal of Valor…
Ohio Parole Board recommends commuting sentence of death row inmate Tyrone Noling
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – The Ohio Parole Board recently recommended a reduced sentence for a death row inmate who has been in prison for more than 30 years for the murder of an…
Manipal Hospital Gurugram Doctor Reports 41 Robotic Gynaecological Surgeries in 90 Days
Manipal Hospital Gurugram said Dr. Amita Shah, chairman of obstetrics and gynaecology, robotic laparoscopy and endoscopy surgery, has performed 41 robotic gynaecological surgeries…
Multiple North Bay law enforcement agencies track suspect in cross-country pursuit
(BCN)-- Several law enforcement agencies in Sonoma and Solano counties worked together Saturday to track down a driver suspected of fleeing police and driving at high speeds from…
Justice Ministry to test GPS tracking of sex offenders on parole
Only parolees who consent to participate in the program will be monitored with GPS devices, which are not slated to be attached to parolees' bodies.
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/paro.md
- RSS feed: /companies/paro/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/dd74c39d-7a47-4efe-abb5-a9a9f0ed9c18
- Revision history: /companies/paro/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Peer companies
- Roborock20 models
- Ecovacs Robotics19 models
- SharkNinja14 models
- iRobot9 models
- Mammotion7 models
- DLR Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics6 models
Video
The 'tranquillity chair' is a fabric doll built into a rocking chair, designed to comfort those in desperate need of some understanding. It was showcased yesterday at the International Home care and Rehabilitation exhibi
Dr Elizabeth Broadbent introduces Wallace Chapman to PARO - the furry robot helping people with dementia.
Speakers: Takanori Shibata Chief Senior Research Scientist National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) Robots: PARO Therapeutic rob
meet Paro, the robot seal (he's taking the world by storm) Health Psychologist Professor Elizabeth Broadbent and Mina talking about mental health, robotics, AI
PARO is an evidence-based neurological therapeutic seal robot that has been an FDA cleared Class II Medical Device in the US since 2009. PARO is built in an FDA
June 4 (Bloomberg) -- On "Weird Wall Street," Adam Johnson, Trish Regan and Julie Hyman look at bizarre business stories on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smar
The PARO therapeutic robot seal and Hasbro's JOY FOR ALL Companion Pet at The 2016 OPEN MINDS Technology & Informatics Institute, November 10, 2016
Star reporter Jennifer Yang travels to Japan to meet Paro, an advanced interactive robot helping people with dementia.
Heat Index
Serious54/100
A composite of competitive footprint, funding, press velocity, active partnerships, and supply-chain edges. Different from the Intelligence score below (which is per-form-factor productization). Non-robotics companies cap at 25.
Reality vs attention
PARO Robots draws attention at the 94th percentile but verifies reality at the 8th percentile among companion_robot robots. Hype Gap +86.1, 1st widest among companion_robot robots.
6-month trend
Analysis
Clean safety record across 3 verified deployments. Meaningful press and media coverage across the period. Limited public funding data for capital position assessment.
Signal flags
Dimension breakdown
Verified signal
Attention (reach, not merit)
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Oct 2, 2026