Ein Doktorand der Tsinghua-Universität aus dem Jahr 1998 hat die Promotion abgebrochen, um Roboter zu bauen, und hat in einem Monat fast 500 Millionen Yuan an Kapital beschafft.

Exclusive information obtained by Touzhongwang reveals that Beijing-based humanoid robot company Songyan Dynamics has completed a nearly 200 million yuan Pre-B+ round of financing. This round of financing was led by CICC Capital, with Yuntai Capital and Houwei Capital participating as follow-on investors. The funds will be used to increase investment in technological innovation and R & D, expand ecological cooperation in high-value application scenarios, and establish a path from R & D to large-scale mass production and delivery.

Humanoid robots and embodied intelligence are undoubtedly the most capital-intensive sectors this year. Judging at least from the frequency and rounds of financing, this is a company on the rise. After completing a nearly 300 million yuan Pre-B round of financing led by Fangguang Capital on October 26th, it has now received an additional nearly 200 million yuan in support. The interval between the two announced financings is less than a month, with a total financing amount of nearly 500 million yuan, and a total of five rounds of financing have been completed this year.

Announced at the same time is a strategic cooperation with "Programming Cat": The two parties will jointly build a "Humanoid Robot Programming Education Laboratory". Last month, the company just launched its first high-performance humanoid robot "Bumi Xiaobumi" priced under 10,000 yuan, mainly targeting technology enthusiasts and teenagers learning programming. While the industry is generally exploring B2B scenarios, these two developments outline Songyan's next plan: using the education scenario as an entry point to penetrate the quasi-consumer market.

Featured in this issue of "Blue hour" is Jiang Zheyuan, the founder of Songyan Dynamics. At the age of 25, he dropped out of his Ph.D. program at Tsinghua University and was determined to develop humanoid robots. Although his identity is gradually restricting his expression, for now, he is still a 1998-born entrepreneur full of vitality. When face-to-face, he doesn't have a strict defense or excessive concerns. During casual conversations, he will candidly admit his personality weaknesses and reflect on his lack of business knowledge. What he talks about the most is that in the past, he only focused on technology and ignored building connections with the market.

This is quite representative. Most entrepreneurs who come from universities have to go through this stage. These people riding on the wave of the times are obsessed with technology and are used to thinking from a scientific perspective - just like when he set the price of the robot at 9,998 yuan, he used the "extreme assumption method" taught by his father when he was doing Olympiad math problems. In the process of entering the market, even professors favored by capital have to experience some setbacks before they can understand and master another set of communication and rules.

It seems that youth is not necessarily a disadvantage; at least, one can be more flexible. After experiencing a period of "being unrecognized", the founder has books such as "Learn to Speak", "Influence", and "Documentaries Also Need to Tell Stories" recommended by investors on his bookshelf, indicating that his awareness of external expression has awakened.

Of course, the challenges don't end there. "In the past two years of entrepreneurship, I've experienced more things than in the previous twenty years. I'm constantly being tested every day," Jiang Zheyuan frowned. He has recruited a group of senior executives older than him and calls most of them "brother" and "sister" in the company. He is still working hard to learn what true "management" is. After winning the second place in the half - marathon race for humanoid robots in April, the company's momentum has rapidly gathered, and the question has changed from how to "survive" to how to "stay in the game".

Last week, in the office located in the Changping Future Science City, we had a chat with Jiang Zheyuan about the latest products and strategies, and also traced the original intention of entrepreneurship and the necessary experiences. He brewed a pot of white orchid tea produced in Ya'an, Sichuan. Even though he doesn't like tea himself, setting up a tea set and brewing a pot of steaming water to make tea shows his hospitality as the leader of the company. Outside the window is an open space where plants grow wildly in spring and summer, just like this company that has been established for only a little over two years.

If I had to describe him with a color, I think the color of young trees would be the most appropriate. The bright yellow - green color symbolizes the vitality of spring - you can't plan its growth, but you can feel an unadorned vitality.

Many people say we're engaging in a price war, but this idea is completely wrong

Liu Yanqiu: How did you come up with the idea of making a humanoid robot priced under 10,000 yuan?

Jiang Zheyuan: Look at any industry. In the initial stage, products are always expensive, have low performance, and low production volume. Later, they gradually become cheaper until consumers can afford them. Any industry will go through a stage of low volume, high gross profit, and high price in the early days, and the end - game is always high volume, reasonable gross profit, and affordable prices. Just like cars today, with a gross profit of about 20%, or even lower in some cases, but with a very large production volume and prices that are acceptable to the public.

I firmly believe that humanoid robots will eventually become popular and enter every household. To be honest, it's quite difficult for robots to really enter homes because they are expensive and can't really solve practical problems for people. It seems like an insurmountable problem. But I have a thinking habit taught by my father. When he taught me to do Olympiad math problems, he used the "extreme assumption method": if you can't solve a problem, set one of the numbers to an extreme, such as 0 or infinity, and then see if the problem becomes easier to solve. I applied this method to robots: since it's difficult for robots to enter homes, what if I set the "price" to an extreme? If humanoid robots were extremely cheap, would it be possible to achieve large - scale production? Following this line of thought, if we could make a humanoid robot priced under 10,000 yuan, even if its current functions are not as good as expected, once the price threshold is broken, it's very likely to enter consumers' homes first.

Price is just a means, not an end. We're not making the robots cheap just for the sake of being cheap. The core is to make the robots scalable and popular. The common goal in the industry should be to promote the popularization of robot technology, which is extremely important.

Many people say we're engaging in a price war, but this idea is completely wrong. Previously, Unitree's R1 robot was sold for 39,900 yuan. Some companies set their prices slightly lower than Unitree's, and some even offered limited - time promotions. This is price - cutting competition, which is essentially trying to grab market share from Unitree. But we've brought the price down from tens of thousands of yuan to a few thousand yuan. This is no longer competition: the 39,900 - yuan price and slightly lower prices target the same group of customers. It's essentially using low prices to grab a larger share of the existing market, which is an example of in - fighting. But when we bring the price down to over 9,000 yuan, we're expanding the market. The customer group for the 39,900 - yuan robots is the existing one, while the customer group for the 9,000 - yuan robots will be much larger. We're looking for our share in a huge new customer pool, which is market expansion rather than competition.

Liu Yanqiu: What's the approximate cost of making a robot sold at 9,998 yuan?

Jiang Zheyuan: I can't disclose the specific figure, but we're definitely making a profit.

Liu Yanqiu: Why did you decide to make this happen? What methods did you use to reduce costs? What did you sacrifice in terms of technology and product to reduce costs?

Jiang Zheyuan: I think a company needs to find its proper position in the industry. In the market for robots priced at tens of thousands of yuan, it's very difficult to create significant differentiation no matter how you define the product. Unitree has done an excellent job in this field. So we decided to change our approach and look for opportunities in a broader scope.

As for why we can make robots at such a low cost, the underlying logic is simple: 80% of the cost of consumer electronics products is determined by the design, and 20% is determined by the production volume. Whether the cost can be optimized well is absolutely related to whether the boss attaches importance to it. If cost optimization is a top - priority project, it will definitely be successful.

For example, we require structural engineers to design the products specifically for mold - opening during the design stage, and details such as draft angles are handled very well. In terms of material selection, we ask engineers to design the robots according to the characteristics of composite materials. Because the overall cost of composite materials is much lower than that of metal materials and the processes that involve multiple steps like die - casting. In addition, we've promoted vertical integration of the supply chain. We've been able to achieve this because, on the one hand, we've developed several generations of robots and have accumulated strong design capabilities, and on the other hand, it also reflects our supply - chain management capabilities.

Liu Yanqiu: Can you be more specific about when you started to conceive the strategy of exploring the consumer - grade robot market with "Xiaobumi"?

Jiang Zheyuan: This can't really be called a strategy; it's just a short - term approach. In fact, from the moment we truly decided to make Xiaobumi to the time we launched the product, the time span wasn't very long. Our company has always had strong execution ability and high efficiency. Many people praise me for my strong execution ability, which is what they think makes me outstanding. But I think it's a simple thing. The core is to "act once you have an idea and think it's right". It sounds simple, but many people just can't do it.

Liu Yanqiu: So in your opinion, reducing costs isn't that difficult?

Jiang Zheyuan: I think so.

Liu Yanqiu: You said this is a strategy of differential competition. What's the current price ecosystem in the robot industry? Where do you stand in it?

Jiang Zheyuan: We definitely have the lowest price in our category. Unless compared with toy - grade products that can't be truly used, among robots with real practical value, our price is the lowest.

Liu Yanqiu: Don't you also have products priced at over 30,000 yuan?

Jiang Zheyuan: That was a limited - time pre - sale price before May Day for the E1 and N2 robots. After May Day, the prices returned to normal. Now, there are different versions. The cheapest one is 69,900 yuan, and there's also an EDU version priced at over 100,000 yuan for high - end scientific research scenarios.

Liu Yanqiu: So your product line mainly covers scientific research, performance, and the consumer market?

Jiang Zheyuan: Both performance and scientific research are included. The Xiaobumi product actually straddles the B2B and B2C markets: in the B2B market, it targets educational institutions and event cooperation; in the B2C market, it clearly targets families with children aged 7 - 13.

Liu Yanqiu: Currently, most humanoid robots are purchased by B2B customers, such as pharmacies, factories, logistics companies, and scientific research institutions. Some are even provided with a trial - and - error scenario by industrial shareholders. How did you determine that the time was right to sell to C - end users?

Jiang Zheyuan: This judgment is mainly based on our own situation, rather than simply looking at the industry. We felt that we had the ability to do this at that time: we had a certain order base, had in - depth cooperation with supply - chain partners, and had the ability to negotiate prices with the supply chain. We did the math and decided to go ahead. In fact, from an industry perspective, there was a possibility of cost - reduction and the production of low - priced products in 2024, but we didn't have the ability at that time, so the timing wasn't right for us. Now that we have the ability, we've pushed forward resolutely. Some more established companies in the industry have actually been qualified to do this for a long time.

Liu Yanqiu: Since those other companies have the ability, why didn't they explore this direction at that time?

Jiang Zheyuan: Maybe they didn't need to. At that time, the entire market was still a blue ocean, and there were clear sales channels for products in the higher - price range. There was no need to take risks on something that hadn't been proven yet. After all, no one could be sure whether it would succeed if the price was lowered so much.

Liu Yanqiu: So the main reason you've chosen the consumer market now is that the original blue - ocean markets have become highly competitive?

Jiang Zheyuan: Yes, we're trying to avoid competition. In fields such as scientific research, education, and commercial performances, although commercial performances aren't extremely competitive, I think the industry ceiling is relatively low, and it's not a long - term scalable market.

Liu Yanqiu: I'm wondering if your cost - reduction methods are non - replicable. Can other companies easily catch up with you?

Jiang Zheyuan: There's nothing non - replicable. Once a company's technical strength reaches the standard, it can achieve the same. The real barrier in an industry actually comes from the flywheel effect. The better the business performs, the better it will become, forming a positive cycle. For example, in the automobile industry, the more cars are sold, the lower the supply - chain cost becomes, the product price can be further reduced, which in turn allows the company to capture a larger market share, and then drives further cost reduction and increased sales. This is the most typical example of the Matthew effect. Our core idea in making low - priced consumer - grade humanoid robots is to be the first mover by taking advantage of the time difference in perception and quickly build the Matthew effect to gain a stable position in the market.

Now that we've launched products in this price range earlier than others, other companies may also develop similar products in the future. But before they catch up, we can first occupy ecological niches, such as locking in marketing resources, building sales channels, and enhancing brand power, and then further reduce costs through scale. Once these are done, the Matthew effect will be formed: the more products we sell, the lower the cost, the more brand exposure we get, and the more sales will increase. When we sell 20,000 units, the products will be everywhere in daily life, which will bring more natural exposure and further boost sales.

Liu Yanqiu: Are there any competitors in the industry that you admire?

Jiang Zheyuan: I really admire Unitree. They've persevered for many years and finally waited for the industry to explode. This is really remarkable.

Liu Yanqiu: Did you benchmark against Unitree when you first started your business? They also just started developing humanoid robots at that time.

Jiang Zheyuan: We didn't deliberately benchmark against them, but we did pay close attention to their actions.

Liu Yanqiu: Is the difference between Songyan and Unitree mainly reflected in different application scenarios?

Jiang Zheyuan: The scenarios are completely different. Unitree mainly focuses on the scientific research field.

Liu Yanqiu: They've occupied the ecological niche in the scientific research scenario.

Jiang Zheyuan: Yes, I've always believed that if you can't be at the top in a specific niche market, it's not worth doing.

Liu Yanqiu: Can Unitree or other companies also enter the market at this price point if they want to?

Jiang Zheyuan: This actually involves a common phenomenon called "the innovator's dilemma". In simple terms, if you're already at the top of a small hill, you're probably not willing to come down and climb another potentially bigger hill, even if the summit of that hill is higher. Just like in the shampoo industry, a leading company developed silicone - free shampoo on its own. Logically, it's better than silicone - based shampoo, but they were afraid to launch it. If they did, it would impact their well - selling silicone - based shampoo, and it wouldn't make sense from a marketing perspective. This is the innovator's dilemma. In the end, someone else made it successful. Few people are willing to give up their current stability to bet on an uncertain future.

Liu Yanqiu: Aren't customers who buy expensive products and those who buy cheap products two different groups?

Jiang Zheyuan: There is a difference between products priced at 10,000 yuan and more expensive ones, but it's not the difference between "usable" and "unusable". Many scientific researchers only need a humanoid robot for research purposes and don't necessarily require the most extreme motion performance