Mehr als 3 Milliarden Yuan angezogen: Der "Hype" um Embodied AI richtet sich nun auf dexterous hands.

The dexterous hand is an important research direction in the embodied intelligence industry chain and is known as the "last centimeter" for humanoid robots to move towards large-scale commercial applications.

"If we compare the dexterous hand to the 2.0 version of the human arm, it's currently about at the junior high school stage - with a development level of about 50%. It can write and catch balls, but it's still far from being a 'hand substitute'. However, its development will accelerate in the next 1 - 2 years, and it's expected to reach 85% - 90%," Ni Hualiang, the general manager of Aoyi Technology, told a reporter from Venture Capital Daily at the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC).

In the exhibition hall of the 2025 WAIC, the dexterous hand booth became one of the focal points. From Xingdong Jiyuan's XHAND1 to Aoyi Technology's ROH - AP001, from Huiling Technology's eHand - 6 to Lingxin Qiaoshou's Linker Hand and Daimeng Robot's DM - Hand1, these "steel fingers" are redefining the boundaries of human - machine interaction.

Meanwhile, as embodied intelligence heats up, the popularity of dexterous hands in the capital market is also rising.

The "Last Centimeter" for Humanoid Robots to Move Towards Commercial Applications

The dexterous hand is a high - degree - of - freedom robotic end - effector that mimics the functions of the human hand and is also an important research direction in the embodied intelligence industry chain. It is known as the "last centimeter" for humanoid robots to move towards large - scale commercial applications. In the current humanoid robot industry, dexterous hand suppliers are urgently needed to provide "powerful, economical, and practical" tactile functions to enable the wide application of humanoid robots and create great practical value for various application scenarios.

Against this background, dexterous hand suppliers are all accelerating their R & D speed.

Among them, Aoyi Technology showcased its second - generation dexterous hand, the ROH - AP001, at the exhibition. This product is equipped with a high - density dot - matrix tactile sensor that can sense pressure changes from 0.1 N to 25 N and achieve millisecond - level response with the humanoid robot's main controller through multi - protocol interfaces such as UART/RS485/CAN. In the on - site demonstration, the ROH - AP001 collaborated with the Reeman robotic arm and the Zhiyuan robot body to complete the "hand - arm - body" linkage operation, demonstrating its integration ability in the "perception - decision - execution" link.

In addition, Aoyi Technology launched the ROH - LiteS product for service - type and small - sized robot applications. This dexterous hand has a longitudinal dimension of 169 mm and a total weight of 457 g, with strong load - bearing capacity (a single finger can bear a static load of 8 kg, and the whole hand can bear 25 kg).

In terms of material selection, Aoyi Technology uses materials such as alloys, plastics, and 3D - printed materials for different application scenarios. Among them, to meet the high - durability requirements of rehabilitation aids, some products use alloys to improve stability.

Aoyi Technology's dexterous hands have been applied in retail, household, and industrial scenarios such as commodity classification, kitchen operation assistance, and precision assembly, and have provided relevant products and services to enterprises such as Xiaomi, Zhiyuan Robot, Yunchu Intelligence, BYD, Apple, and Hyundai Motor.

Ni Hualiang, the founder of Aoyi Technology, said that in the next 1 to 2 years, the dexterous hand industry will develop rapidly, but it still faces challenges in process optimization and sensor integration. On the one hand, continuous improvement is needed in the material processing, component manufacturing, and assembly links; on the other hand, the compatibility and integration problems between different sensors need to be solved.

On - site, a reporter from Venture Capital Daily saw Lingxin Qiaoshou from Beijing playing the piano. Its fingertips accurately tapped the keys, with coordinated and rhythmic movements, and the overall performance was close to the fluency and sensitivity of a human hand playing.

Zhang Yanbai, the marketing director of Lingxin Qiaoshou, told a reporter from Venture Capital Daily that in terms of core performance, the product has achieved a step - by - step improvement in active degrees of freedom: From 7 active degrees of freedom in the first - generation product to 10 active degrees of freedom, the lateral swing flexibility of the fingers and the wrapped - type grasping ability have been significantly enhanced, making it adaptable to more complex object shapes; the current flagship model has even broken through to 16 active degrees of freedom, and the joint control accuracy and motion fluency are closer to the movement logic of the human hand, further expanding the boundaries of the operation scenarios.

In terms of mass - production scale, the dexterous hands have achieved stable supply, with a monthly output of about 400 units. Among them, the monthly production capacity of the main models can reach 150 - 200 units, fully meeting the market demand.

Xingdong Jiyuan also brought its dexterous hand product, the XHAND1, to the exhibition. This product has 12 high - active degrees of freedom, is close to the size of a human hand, has a maximum single - hand grasping force of up to 80 N, can lift objects weighing up to 25 kg, and has a response speed of up to 10 clicks per second, improving the operation sensitivity and execution efficiency.

A reporter from Venture Capital Daily saw that in the on - site demonstration, the operator remotely controlled the Xingdong XHAND1 to complete a number of delicate tasks through tele - operation, including pinching express waybills, operating a barcode scanner, picking up small labels with tweezers, and simulating massage. The accuracy of the movements was close to that of a human hand.

Yinshi Robot also exhibited its new product, the RH56F1 dexterous hand, at this exhibition and could play a rock - paper - scissors game with the audience. It could perceive the hand shape of the audience after making a move through the camera and respond quickly.

Daimeng Robot brought its new - generation dexterous hand, the DM - Hand1. According to an on - site person who told a reporter from Venture Capital Daily, this product uses a human - hand - like structural design and integrates a millimeter - thick visual - tactile sensor. It achieves miniaturized integration while maintaining high resolution, improving the flexibility of the robot in delicate tasks. Currently, this product has been tested on a small scale in scenarios such as embodied intelligence and intelligent manufacturing and is open to developers.

Start - ups, Robot Body Manufacturers, etc. Flock to the Dexterous Hand Track

As embodied intelligence heats up, the investment enthusiasm tends to spread upstream, and the dexterous hand is one of them.

This year, many dexterous hand enterprises have received capital investment. For example, Lingxin Qiaoshou completed a seed - round financing of over 100 million yuan in early April, led by Sequoia China Seed Fund and Wankai New Materials, with participation from Lihe Capital, Lihe Finance, Huacang Capital, and Anyu.

At the end of the same month, Yinshi Robot, a dexterous hand enterprise, announced the completion of nearly 100 million yuan in Series B3 financing, led by Shenqi Capital, with participation from Yuanhe Capital and Huagai Capital.

In May, Aoyi Technology announced the completion of nearly 100 million yuan in Series B++ financing, jointly invested by Infinity Group and Zhejiang Development Asset Management Co., Ltd. Since its establishment, Aoyi Technology has completed 7 rounds of financing.

According to incomplete statistics by a reporter from Venture Capital Daily, since last year, there have been more than 20 financing cases related to robotic dexterous hands nationwide, with a cumulative financing amount of over 3 billion yuan.

Meanwhile, with technological progress and the growth of application demand, dexterous hands are accelerating their move from the R & D stage to industrial implementation. According to market forecasts, the global shipment volume of robotic dexterous hands is expected to exceed 860,000 units in 2025, with a market size of 1.921 billion US dollars. During the same period, the domestic humanoid robot industry scale is expected to reach 5.5 billion yuan and is expected to grow to 38.7 billion yuan by 2028.

An investor in the embodied intelligence track told a reporter from Venture Capital Daily that there are now more than 20 well - known teams in the dexterous hand track, and investors who previously focused on new energy, commercial space, and consumer sectors have now turned their attention to this track.

However, he also said that there are already many enterprises participating in this track at present. Both upstream sensor companies and downstream robot body manufacturers are self - developing dexterous hands, and there is not much time left for start - ups.

The government is also increasing its support. As early as the end of 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Guiding Opinions on the Innovative Development of Humanoid Robots", clearly stating that key technological breakthroughs, including those in dexterous hands, should be achieved by 2027 to build an internationally competitive industrial ecosystem.

The above - mentioned investor pointed out that this "Opinion" depicts a clear development path for the domestic humanoid robot industry. "In the process of gradually advancing the policy goals, core components such as dexterous hands are expected to make substantial progress first, and the industrial chain will also be improved more quickly."

Special Statement: The content of this article is for reference only and does not constitute investment advice. Investors shall bear the risks on their own if they operate based on this.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Venture Capital Daily", author: Li Mingming, published by 36Kr with authorization.