Whill

WHILL, Inc. develops and sells personal electric vehicles for seniors and people with mobility limitations, marketed as an alternative to conventional power wheelchairs and senior scooters. Its consumer line includes the Model C2 and Model C2 High Back portable electric wheelchairs, the Model F folding electric wheelchair, the Model R mobility scooter in 3-wheel and 4-wheel versions, and the Modo Breeze, a carbon-fiber ultralight foldable electric wheelchair weighing just under 29 pounds that folds in seconds and is described as airline-friendly. Earlier products included the Model A (2014), the Model M compact four-wheel-drive chair with omnidirectional wheels, the Model Ci, the Model C (2017) and the Model C Lite carbon foldable chair.

Alongside devices, WHILL operates an Autonomous Service business providing self-driving mobility units that carry passengers through airports and other public venues. The company reports more than 700,000 rides completed worldwide, with one announcement citing a global track record of one million rides. Deployments include Haneda Airport in Tokyo, where the fleet reached 37 units following expansion to the new North Satellite Terminal, and Singapore's Changi Airport with an 18-unit deployment described as the company's largest airport installation. WHILL also offers short-term and travel rentals through Scootaround, which it acquired and merged with in 2018.

WHILL products are designed in Japan and manufactured in Taiwan, a location chosen for lower costs, cultural proximity to Japan and an existing manufacturing cluster. The Model M received FDA clearance as a medical device in the United States, and the company has patented its technology in both Japan and the United States. In June 2026 the company issued an urgent medical device correction covering FDA-cleared firmware updates for the Model C2 and Model F.

Founding story

The company traces its origin to a 2010 encounter with a wheelchair user who said he had given up on going to a grocery store two blocks away. Co-founder Satoshi Sugie, previously at the Nissan design center and technical center, identified two problems: the stigma attached to wheelchairs and designs that could not handle uneven pavement, cracks and bumps. He started the WHILL project in 2011 with Junpei Naito, previously a product engineer at Sony, and Muneaki Fukuoka, previously a medical device engineer at Olympus; Naito and Fukuoka had earlier founded an engineering unit called Sunny Side Garage together with Naoto Sakakibara. Sugie moved to San Francisco in 2012 to serve as CEO.

Business model

WHILL combines direct and retail sales of consumer mobility devices with a short-term rental business (Scootaround) and a mobility-as-a-service operation supplying autonomous personal mobility units to venue operators such as airports.

Revenue comes from the sale of power chairs and mobility scooters through retail and online channels, short-term and travel rentals of mobility equipment, and autonomous mobility services deployed in airports and other public facilities.

Traction

The Autonomous Service has completed more than 700,000 rides worldwide per the company's US site, with an August 2026 announcement referencing a global track record of one million rides. The Haneda Airport fleet reached 37 units after expansion to the new North Satellite Terminal, and the Changi Airport deployment of 18 units is described as the largest to date. Products are stocked in hundreds of North American mobility equipment retailers. Gust listed the company at 5 employees and 'Prototype Ready' stage.

Latest developments

In 2026 WHILL introduced the Modo Breeze carbon-fiber ultralight electric wheelchair (announced July 15, 2026), put the Model C Lite foldable carbon electric wheelchair on sale with test drives, appointed two new outside directors to strengthen governance and strategic partnerships (announced July 2, 2026), issued an urgent medical device correction covering FDA-cleared firmware versions 3.00 for Model C2 and 3.01 for Model F (June 2026), expanded autonomous service to Haneda's new North Satellite Terminal bringing that fleet to 37 units (August 25, 2026), and launched autonomous service at Singapore's Changi Airport with 18 units (August 31, 2026).