36Kr Exklusivbericht | Der Poolroboter „Siaotuo“ hat die Serie A+ -Finanzierungsrunde mit 70 Millionen Yuan abgeschlossen und eine ausländische Marke mit einem äußerst günstigen Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis geschaffen.

Written by Li Xiaoxia

36Kr learned that the underwater cleaning robot company "Siaotuo" (Shenzhen Siaotuo Technology Co., Ltd.) recently completed a 70 - million - yuan Series A+ financing. The investors include local industrial funds and the listed company Jierong Co., Ltd. This round of financing will mainly be used for product production and inventory preparation.

Founded in October 2021 and headquartered in Shenzhen, "Siaotuo" is a company focusing on underwater cleaning robots. Its pool cleaning robots are mainly sold to overseas markets such as North America through e - commerce platforms like Amazon and Temu. In just three years since its establishment, the company has obtained 17 independent intellectual property rights and core technologies, and was selected as a typical case of intelligent robot application demonstration in Shenzhen in June 2023.

Thanks to technological innovation, pool robots have been continuously upgraded in terms of cleaning efficiency and intelligent control. Coupled with the increasing demand from consumers for convenient and efficient pool maintenance, the pool robot market has shown strong growth momentum in recent years.

Data shows that by 2029, the global automatic pool robot market is expected to reach $2.16 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of 10.9%. Behind this growth trend is the continuous increase in the number of swimming pools globally and the gradual increase in the penetration rate of pool robots.

North America, in particular, has become one of the fastest - growing markets in the world, thanks to its large number of household swimming pools. The United States has the largest number of private swimming pools in the world (over 10 million). Pool owners spend an average of $1,432 per year on pool maintenance, including regular cleaning, repairs, and seasonal opening and closing, with an average single - time cost of over $100.

The high cost of manual maintenance and the increasingly prominent labor shortage have made automated cleaning equipment a rigid demand. Pool robots can replace multiple expensive manual cleaning services. From a long - term use perspective, they have higher long - term investment value. This makes pool robots not only a technological product but also an affordable pool maintenance solution.

Deng Zhuoming, the founder of "Siaotuo", told 36Kr that most American users tend to buy pool robot products priced below $500 due to their consumption capacity. "Siaotuo" has even managed to price its products below $400. For example, its SAT 1X series is priced at only $199, and the higher - priced SAT 2X product is only $399.

Before founding "Siaotuo", Deng Zhuoming, who has a technical background, worked in a company engaged in unmanned boat business and increased the company's revenue from $6 million to $18 million. "American consumers mainly focus on price. For them, it's just a household tool." According to him, the company's revenue exceeded 100 million yuan in 2024, and the shipment volume was nearly 100,000 units.

In Deng Zhuoming's view, the core competitiveness of "Siaotuo" lies in "extreme cost control" to establish a price advantage. This stems from its adherence to the "first - principles thinking" - reconstructing the product logic from the physical essence.

Take battery life as an example. The industry generally extends the working time by increasing battery capacity, but the cost soars accordingly. "Siaotuo" instead disassembled the essence of the problem: the core of battery life is energy consumption, and the key factor affecting energy consumption is friction. The team spent two years improving the motor drive system, increasing the service life of planetary gears from the industry average of 500 hours to 2,000 hours, ultimately achieving the goal of reducing friction losses.

In addition, "Siaotuo" products are small and lightweight. "Most users are women, so portability is very important." It is reported that with the same sewage suction capacity, the volume of other products in the industry is generally 1.5 times that of "Siaotuo" products. A larger volume often means higher transportation costs, which may lead to a corresponding increase in the product price. In contrast, "Siaotuo" products are smaller in size and lower in freight, further strengthening its price advantage.

Thanks to its high cost - performance ratio, "Siaotuo"'s shipment volume in the first quarter of this year has exceeded that of the whole last year, and its sales revenue has exceeded 50 million yuan. The company has also entered a profitable state. Among them, Temu's semi - managed business has grown rapidly and is comparable to Amazon in terms of sales volume. In addition, Deng Zhuoming revealed that due to its overwhelming price advantage, "Siaotuo" has forced its competitors to rely on larger advertising investments to drive transactions. "Advertising expenses account for 30% - 40% of the total sales revenue."

In 2024, "Siaotuo" ranked fourth in terms of sales on Amazon. The first place was occupied by the Dolphin brand under Maytronics, a well - known Israeli pool machine R & D and manufacturing company. This year, "Siaotuo"'s goal is to reach the top of the pool robot sales list on Amazon.

It is worth mentioning that last year, "Siaotuo" reached a strategic cooperation with Maytronics. The two parties jointly launched a new brand "Niya", which is sold through all of Maytronics' channels. According to the announcement, "Siaotuo" will use its own motor and sensor production lines to research, develop, and produce cable - free pool robots for Maytronics. "What do you think the other party values? It's our cost advantage."

It is reported that "Siaotuo" has established a factory of about 20,000 square meters in Huizhou, with more than 300 employees. The products produced include brushless motors, sensors, power supplies, battery seals, accessory production lines, and assembly production lines.

It is precisely based on the integration of the supply chain and technological innovation that "Siaotuo" has been able to achieve cost control. As the business grows, Deng Zhuoming needs to continuously find ways to reduce costs in every aspect.

In the cross - border e - commerce operation system, overseas warehouses play a crucial role. As storage facilities established overseas, they can store goods in advance near consumers. When consumers place an order, the goods can be directly shipped from the overseas warehouse, greatly shortening the delivery time.

In addition to being related to the seller's logistics efficiency and user experience, the choice of overseas warehouses is also linked to cost. At present, cross - border e - commerce sellers generally have three ways to obtain overseas warehouses: cooperate with third - party overseas warehouses, use Amazon's FBA warehouses, or rent overseas warehouses by themselves.

For sellers of a certain scale, renting overseas warehouses by themselves may be the most feasible option. Before the Spring Festival, Deng Zhuoming went to the United States alone to solve the problem of overseas warehouses. He told 36Kr that many consumer electronics cross - border e - commerce companies fail due to inventory management issues, and setting up their own warehouses can effectively solve this problem, enabling dynamic adjustment of inventory strategies. After cost savings, "Siaotuo" is expected to reduce the price of wall - climbing pool robots from $600 to $300.

Deng Zhuoming told 36Kr that there are no significant competitive barriers in the underwater cleaning robot industry. Many products on the market that highlight concepts such as AI vision and obstacle recognition are putting the cart before the horse. "You just need to clean well and keep the price reasonable." For "Siaotuo", low prices are not a sign of involution but a way to evolve into a brand.

Anker Innovations is probably a good example. "When they first went global, they also focused on cost - performance. It's just that they gradually grew and became a well - known brand later."

In Deng Zhuoming's understanding, the prerequisite for building a brand is to survive. "Survive for a long time, sell enough products, and let consumers see you every day. When the sales revenue increases, further refine the products to let consumers recognize your brand and associate it with quality."

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