Has He Invested in All Former Employees? The Full Panoramic Map of Horizons' Incubation, Investment, and Alumni Entrepreneurship

Horizon Robotics is one of the most successful startups in China's intelligent driving chip market. After its listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in October 2024, its spill - over effect is accelerating. From internal team spin - offs to the departure of core executives to start their own businesses, an entrepreneurial ecosystem network centered around Horizon Robotics has taken shape.

According to IT Juzi data, Horizon Robotics, as a CVC (Corporate Venture Capital), has made a total of 32 external investments. More notably, Yu Kai, the founder of Horizon Robotics, has "invested in almost all the startup projects of his former employees". In June 2026, this phenomenon was reported by multiple media outlets such as QbitAI and Sina Finance.

According to incomplete statistics, at least 14 core technical and management talents from Horizon Robotics have left the company to start their own businesses. Yu Kai and Horizon Robotics have made direct or indirect investments in most of their projects, forming a rare pattern of two - way support between the former employer and its alumni.

I. Spin - off and Incubation: Independent from Internal Business

Currently, Horizon Robotics has two directly spin - off and incubated companies, targeting the consumer robot market and mid - to high - level intelligent driving solutions respectively.

1. Digua Robotics - The Whole AIoT Team Spin - off

Digua Robotics is the most typical case of internal incubation at Horizon Robotics. In early 2024, Horizon Robotics spun off its robotics division (the AIoT team) as a whole and established a wholly - owned subsidiary, Digua Robotics. Yu Kai personally served as the legal representative and executive director.

When the spin - off was announced within Horizon Robotics in December 2023, it was clearly positioned to focus on the R & D of the underlying computing platform for consumer - grade robots. After the spin - off, Digua Robotics has developed rapidly:

May 2025: Completed a $100 million Series A financing, with Hillhouse Capital, Vertex Growth under Temasek, Linear Capital, Wuyuan Capital, Plum Ventures and other investors participating;

March 2026: Completed a $120 million Series B1 financing. Both new and old shareholders such as Didi, Meituan Longzhu, BAIC Capital Investment, Jinqiu Fund and others all over - subscribed. The total financing in the two rounds is $220 million.

By the end of 2025, Digua Robotics had provided core computing chips, algorithm capabilities and software development platform services to more than 200 teams such as Ecovacs, Yunjing, Zhujidongli, GAC Group, etc. Its global shipment volume in 2025 increased by 180% year - on - year. In May 2026, Xu Jian, the Chief Ecosystem Officer of Horizon Robotics, said in a public speech: "We hope to start from the automotive industry and expand to everything, that is, the automotive ecosystem can achieve a spill - over effect."

Digua Robotics is a key piece for Horizon Robotics to move from an automotive chip company to the ecological base of the robotics industry.

2. neueHCT - A Strategic Joint Venture with OMERW Group (formerly the automotive subsidiary of Continental Group)

In 2022, Horizon Robotics and OMERW Group (formerly the automotive subsidiary of Continental Group) established a joint - venture company, neueHCT, with its headquarters in Jiading, Shanghai.

neueHCT is positioned as a provider of intelligent driving solutions. The core logic is that Horizon Robotics provides the chip and algorithm base, while OMERW Group provides engineering mass - production capabilities and global market channels. The two sides complement each other's advantages.

According to IT Juzi data, neueHCT has grown into a unicorn. Its latest round of financing was nearly $200 million in January 2026, jointly invested by Yunfeng Fund, Fortune Capital and others. Horizon Robotics and OMERW Group, as strategic shareholders, also made additional investments. It has the qualification of a high - tech enterprise.

This is a benchmark case of Horizon Robotics' technology output and industrial alliance model. It is not a simple financial investment but a deep - binding cooperation with leading players in the industrial chain in the form of a joint - venture company.

II. Former Employees' Startups with Horizon Robotics' Investment: The Former Employer Follows its Alumni

Among the companies founded by former employees of Horizon Robotics, several have received direct investments from Horizon Robotics. Yu Kai's practice of investing in all his former employees' startup projects is not only a continuation of the talent ecosystem but also reflects strategic foresight. Most of these projects are concentrated in cutting - edge fields such as embodied intelligence, robotics, and physical AI, which form synergy with Horizon Robotics' main business.

3. Vita Dynamics - The 005th Employee's Second Startup, with Horizon Robotics Leading the Seed Round

Vita Dynamics is one of the companies with the fastest financing pace and the fastest product launch among Horizon Robotics' alumni startups.

The founding team consists of core members of Horizon Robotics:

● Yu Yinan (Founder and CEO): The 005th employee of Horizon Robotics (some reports say the 6th). He once served as the vice - president and the president of the platform product line. He had worked at Baidu's Deep Learning Research Institute for many years before;

● Song Wei (Co - founder): The former chief architect of the software platform at Horizon Robotics and a member of the founding team of Horizon Robotics.

In addition, Zhao Zhelun, the former director of intelligent driving products at Li Auto, joined the company. Guo Yandong, the former chief scientist of XPeng Motors, joined as the vice - president of R & D in March 2026.

After its establishment at the end of 2024, Vita Dynamics has a very fast financing pace:

Seed round (January 2025): Nearly 100 million yuan, jointly led by Horizon Robotics and Hillhouse Capital, with Yuanjing Capital and others following;

Seed + round (March 2025): Led by Capital Today and Cathay Capital, it completed a total of 200 million yuan in seed - stage financing within three months of its establishment;

Angel round (completed in May 2025, officially announced in August): Led by Fortune Capital, with Lenovo Capital and Yingze Capital following;

Pre - A round (May 2026): Nearly 500 million yuan, jointly led by Dongfang Jafu, Huatai Zijin, Fosun RZ Capital, with SAIC Shangqi Capital and others following.

The total financing exceeds 700 million yuan (4 rounds of financing completed within 18 months), reaching the level of a potential unicorn.

Vita Dynamics is positioned in consumer - grade embodied intelligence. On December 23, 2025, it launched the world's first intelligent robotic dog "Big Head BoBo" without a remote control, priced at 9,988 yuan. It is equipped with 128 TOPS of edge - side AI computing power and fully self - developed joint motors. The number of orders exceeded 1,000 within 52 minutes of the live - streaming launch, with a total of 6,540 pre - orders and nearly 100 million yuan in sales. Yu Kai personally became the 001st user.

In June 2026, Vbot's offline experience network has covered more than a dozen cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, Chaoshan, Wuhan, etc., and it has entered Sam's Club and JD Mall. In the next stage, it will start the R & D of full - size humanoid robots.

4. Wujie Dynamics - Led by the Former Vice - President, with Horizon Robotics Participating in the Angel Round

Zhang Yufeng has a core resume among the executives at Horizon Robotics. After joining the company in 2017, he successively served as the vice - president, the president of the intelligent automotive division, a director of the company, and a member of the management committee. He led a team of thousands to complete the mass - production and delivery of intelligent driving software algorithms.

In 2025, he founded Wujie Dynamics, which is positioned as a provider of general robot brains and operational intelligence. Its financing is also very rapid:

Angel round (November 2025): 300 million yuan, led by Sequoia China and Linear Capital. Horizon Robotics participated as a follower, along with Hillhouse Capital, Huaye Tiancheng, Zhongding Capital, BV Baidu Ventures, Tongge Ventures and others;

Angel + round (February 2026): More than 200 million yuan. Old shareholders such as Sequoia, Linear, Hillhouse, Huaye Tiancheng, CICC Capital, BV Baidu Ventures continued to invest, and new investors such as Shenzhen Capital Group, Sinovation Ventures, Puhua Capital, Junshan Capital, Yare Capital joined.

The total of the two announced rounds is about 500 million yuan. According to a report in February 2026, the third - round financing is almost completed, and the total financing amount will reach 800 million yuan, making it a promising startup.

Zhang Yufeng switched from leading a team of thousands in intelligent driving to developing robot brains, which is a natural extension from the automotive field to the robotics field. In 2026, two generations of robots have entered the mass - production stage, and the company plans to deliver products in 6 countries. Wujie Dynamics has also reached a cooperation with ZF LIFETEC in Germany to empower advanced manufacturing with embodied intelligence on a large scale.

5. SynapX - The 6th Founding Employee's Third Startup, with Horizon Robotics Jointly Investing

The story of SynapX is the most dramatic, and the proportion of Horizon Robotics alumni in its founding team is the highest among all the alumni companies.

Du Dalong is the 6th founding employee of Horizon Robotics. He first co - founded JIANZHI Robotics (which was later acquired by NavInfo in the largest intelligent driving M & A case in the A - share market). In January 2026, he founded SynapX, his third startup.

The co - founders of SynapX have a luxurious lineup, and they are all Horizon Robotics alumni:

Pan Yangjiayi: The former vice - president of capital operation and strategy at Horizon Robotics;

Fan Qingyuan: The former vice - president of the chip business and the general manager of the Journey series of chip products at Horizon Robotics;

Liang Zhujin: The former head of algorithms at Horizon Robotics.

The financing pace is extremely fast:

Seed round (March 2026): Nearly $50 million, jointly invested by Horizon Robotics, Hillhouse Capital, Xiaomi Strategic Investment, Shunwei Capital, Linear Capital;

Pre - A round (April 2026): Hundreds of millions of RMB;

A round (June 17, 2026): $50 million, led by Jinqiu Fund, Xinlian Capital, Huangpu River Capital, with JAFCO Asia, Houxue Capital and others following. The old shareholder, Linear Capital, continued to support.

The total financing in the past 3 months is nearly 1 billion yuan, and the next round of 500 million yuan financing is almost completed.

SynapX is positioned in physical AGI. Its mission is to build a sustainable and self - evolving embodied intelligence productivity. It has proposed the SYNTH deep - thinking architecture, and its core module, SYNAction, is for operational intelligence. It is expected to release the basic model and launch core products in the second half of 2026.

Du Dalong has maintained a trust relationship with Yu Kai in each of his startups, from Horizon Robotics to JIANZHI and then to SynapX. Horizon Robotics has continued to invest.

6. Dingdang Dynamics - Led by the General Manager of the Cockpit Product Line, with Horizon Robotics Leading the Seed Round

Niu Jianwei once served as the general manager of the intelligent cockpit product line at Horizon Robotics. In January 2026, he founded Dingdang Dynamics, which is positioned in the R & D of a large - scale spatial intelligence model for the intelligent central hub of robots.

Seed round (May 2026): Tens of millions of yuan, led by Horizon Robotics, with Zhengjing Fund following.

Dingdang Dynamics was established the most recently and has the smallest financing scale. However, Horizon Robotics' leading role in the investment shows Yu Kai's recognition of the startup direction of his former subordinate.

7. JIANZHI Robotics - The 10th Employee's Second Startup, with Horizon Robotics Participating in Three Rounds of Investment

The story of JIANZHI Robotics is the one with the longest time span among the startups of Horizon Robotics alumni.

Shan Yi is one of the earliest 10 employees of Horizon Robotics. He once served as the head of FPGA technology at Horizon Robotics. He joined Horizon Robotics in 2015 and left the next year. He co - founded Deephi Tech with his classmates from the Department of Electronic Engineering at Tsinghua University, Yao Song, Wang Yu, and Han Song, and served as the CTO. In 2018, Deephi Tech was acquired by Xilinx for about $300 million, which is one of the most successful exit cases in the history of Chinese AI chip startups.

In 2021, Shan Yi started his second startup and established JIANZHI Robotics. The core team is almost all Horizon Robotics alumni:

Du Dalong (Co - founder and CTO): The 6th founding employee of Horizon Robotics;

Huang Guan (Partner): The former head of visual perception technology at Horizon Robotics;

Liang Zhujin: The former head of algorithms at Horizon Robotics.

JIANZHI is positioned in autonomous driving software algorithms. Its core ability is a full - stack mass - production intelligent driving solution based on Horizon Robotics' J6E/M chips. That is to say, JIANZHI's products are naturally built on Horizon Robotics' chip ecosystem.

According to the latest report, Horizon Robotics participated in the Angel round, Pre - A round, and Pre - B round of JIANZHI's financing and continued to increase its investment in the C+ round (the investors include Horizon Together, a subsidiary of Horizon Robotics). In September 2025, NavInfo acquired JIANZHI Robotics for about 1.8 billion yuan, becoming the largest intelligent driving M & A case in the history of the A - share market. The end result of JIANZHI is to be acquired by an industrial player rather than going public independently. For Horizon Robotics, this is another successful exit for an alumni project.

III. Other Former Employees' Startups: Spill - over but not Binding of the Horizon Robotics Ecosystem

There are also several startups founded by Horizon Robotics alumni. Horizon Robotics provided financial support in the early stages of their startups but did not publicly appear in subsequent financings. Or the founders have a strong background at Horizon Robotics, but Horizon Robotics has not publicly participated in the investment.

8. Jijia Vision - Led by the Head of Visual Perception, Raised 3.5 Billion in 3 Months

Huang Guan is a post - 90s Ph.D. from the Department of Automation at Tsinghua University. He once served as the head of visual perception technology at Horizon Robotics and later as a partner and the vice - president of algorithms at JIANZHI Robotics. After leaving JIANZHI, Huang Guan founded Jijia Vision, which is positioned in general intelligence for the physical world driven by world models.

The co - founder, Sun Shaoyan, also comes from Horizon Robotics. He once served as the general manager of the data closed - loop product line.

According to a report by QbitAI in June 2026, Horizon Robotics provided financial support in the early stage of Jijia Vision's startup. However, in the subsequent large - scale financings, Horizon Robotics did not appear in the public list of investors:

Pre - B round (March 2026): Nearly 1 billion yuan, with SMIC Juyuan, Shanghai Semiconductor Industry Investment Fund, Linxin Capital, CICC Capital and others participating;

B1 round (April 2026): Nearly 1.5 billion yuan, with well - known technology giants, national - level funds, JL Capital under Yili CVC and others;