Originating from Silicon Valley and deeply rooted in Japan, how did this robotics company successfully expand into 30 countries? | Pioneers in Global Expansion
Since the beginning of the year, Li Meng, who lives in Qiantang District, Hangzhou, has noticed that there is an extra small vehicle with a peculiar appearance in front of Aeon Mall, a nearby shopping center.
The small vehicle looks more like a transparent space that can move autonomously. Inside, there are only two rows of symmetrical seats, no steering wheel or driver's seat like in a traditional car, and the panoramic windows on both sides also serve as doors. This small vehicle is also called the RoboBus, a robotic product developed and designed by PIX Moving. If you prop up the panoramic window on one side of the RoboBus and place a vending machine inside, the interior space will turn into a self-service retail store (RoboShop), which can move to a designated location to provide on - site services.
PIX Moving originated in Silicon Valley, the United States. Based on the core technology of the skateboard chassis, through digital manufacturing technologies such as AIGC and 3D printing capabilities, it provides solutions for unmanned robots. It has successively received investments from Silicon Valley venture capital firm SOSV, A - share listed company Kanshe Co., Ltd., and Japan's TIS Inc. The latest round of Series B1 financing was completed at the end of 2024, led by Zheshang Venture Capital, with the funds sourced from the National SME Development Fund and Huzhou Chang Sanhe Holding Group.
Different from most technology - innovation enterprises that first complete the business cycle in the domestic market and then expand globally, PIX Moving decided from the very beginning to start with markets where labor costs are relatively higher but the potential demand for unmanned and robotic products is greater, such as Japan and Europe. Currently, PIX Moving has gradually accumulated stable customers and achieved mass production in these core markets. Next, it plans to launch diverse product forms according to more scenario requirements and gradually enter emerging markets in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
At the same time, PIX Moving is also expanding its domestic market in scenarios such as industrial parks and commuting. Recently, PIX Moving signed a cooperation agreement with Guangzhou Baiyun Mountain Scenic Area, and the new - generation RoboBus will be officially put into operation in the 5A - level scenic area of Guangzhou Baiyun Mountain.
RoboBus
1. The global shortage of bus drivers gives rise to a business worth hundreds of millions of yuan
Before launching products such as the RoboBus, PIX Moving first commercialized the intermediate technology in the R & D stage into skateboard chassis products. Yu Chuan, the founder and CEO of PIX Moving, said, "Our original intention is to create urban robots. The entrepreneurial idea we follow is to take out whatever we have and let the market test it. The market's traction and feedback will drive product development." "This is easier than directly launching a whole - vehicle product."
Facing the public's anxiety about "being replaced by robots", Yu Chuan said that the consensus in the field of robot R & D is that "robots do not directly replace human labor but focus on supplementing scenarios with labor shortages." Based on this consensus and the market feedback on skateboard chassis, PIX Moving found that there is a widespread shortage of bus drivers globally, especially in relatively developed regions such as Europe, the United States, Japan, and South Korea. "People who have traveled to rural Japan may have experienced waiting for a bus for more than an hour."
Japanese society has long entered an aging stage, and the polarization of urban - rural development has further exacerbated the aging problem in rural areas. A large number of rural elderly people have exceeded the legal driving age, so the shortage of bus drivers and the resulting insufficient supply of public transportation have become a long - standing livelihood problem in rural Japan. According to statistics from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the average age of bus drivers in 2022 exceeded 53 years old. The Japan Bus Association estimates based on employment conditions that by 2030, the employment gap for bus drivers in Japan will exceed 36,000.
In 2023, PIX Moving launched its first unmanned product, the RoboBus, in Japan. According to the trend of miniaturization and customization of public buses, the RoboBus is positioned as a small bus with less than 10 seats. In February 2025, the RoboBus won the iF Design Award in Germany.
RoboBus
Compared with Europe, Japan will be the market where PIX Moving first achieves large - scale sales. The core reason is that in addition to market demand, the local legal and regulatory environment also provides conditions for the faster implementation of unmanned products. Although many European countries also lack bus drivers, their legal control over autonomous vehicles is relatively conservative and strict.
Japan revised its Road Traffic Law in April 2023 and became the first country in the world to allow L4 - level unmanned vehicles on public roads. To solve the problem of difficult travel in rural areas, Japan also proposed the "Digital Rural - Urban Plan" national strategy to support technological product solutions such as unmanned driving.
In addition to the RoboBus, PIX Moving has launched a variety of products such as unmanned retail vehicles and unmanned cleaning vehicles, covering markets in more than 30 countries globally and having hundreds of customers and partners. In the European market, PIX Moving cooperated with a European startup original equipment manufacturer to launch a mass - produced model, the Robo - EV. Yu Chuan introduced that the Robo - EV is a two - seat new energy vehicle. Based on skateboard chassis technology and modular design, it is designed according to the European L7e standard. The finished product will be exhibited and launched at the German Auto Show in September.
PIX Moving is currently actively expanding into the South Korean and Southeast Asian markets, and the order volume from Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is also growing rapidly. According to 36Kr Pro, as of the end of 2024, PIX Moving's orders reached hundreds of millions of yuan.
2. Meet various scenario requirements with AI + digital flexible manufacturing capabilities
Yu Chuan introduced that currently, intelligent robot products on the market can be divided into three categories according to the underlying motion technology logic: articulated robots such as embodied robots, robot dogs, and industrial robotic arms; aerial robots in the low - altitude economy field such as drones; and wheeled robots such as unmanned cleaning vehicles and AGV transport vehicles in logistics factories.
PIX Moving's unmanned products belong to wheeled robots. The key technology lies in the wire - control system responsible for the robot's movement, which is similar to the "cerebellum" part of the human body and is also PIX Moving's area of expertise. Since its establishment in 2017, PIX Moving has applied for more than 200 relevant manufacturing patents in China, Europe, and the United States.
In terms of manufacturing paradigm, PIX Moving's innovation lies in using its self - developed large - scale metal 3D printing system, moldless forming system, and composite material forming technology, combined with its own vehicle parametric design algorithm. It can flexibly define the product form of the upper part of the skateboard chassis according to different usage scenarios. By highly modularizing and integrating the manufacturing process, this flexible manufacturing paradigm reduces 60% of automotive parts and assembly work, thereby significantly shortening the development cycle, reducing production costs, and overcoming the limitations of the traditional automotive model in small - batch and customized production requirements.
RoboBus
In addition to being used in the rural bus system in Japan, the RoboBus can also be converted into a sightseeing shuttle bus in parks and scenic areas, a commuting tool inside campuses such as universities and industrial parks, or as a supplement to urban rail transit to solve the scattered commuting problem within a range of 3 - 5 kilometers. In addition, based on the skateboard chassis technology, PIX Moving has jointly developed a mobile energy - storage robot with a globally leading ICT company to solve the shortage of electric vehicle charging facilities in Europe and Japan. The indoor service robot jointly developed with Japan's TIS has also been put into operation in the TIS Toyosu Building.
"These niche scenarios are not attractive to large automobile enterprises, but they are very suitable for companies like PIX Moving with AIGC technology. Once we discover a certain niche demand, we can quickly manufacture the product through software definition." Yu Chuan said. To quickly increase production capacity to meet the increasing order demand, PIX Moving is building a new mass - production factory in Huzhou, Zhejiang this year, which can produce 1000 RoboBuses annually.
Yu Chuan said that the decision to build a factory in Huzhou is largely due to the advantages of the Yangtze River Delta region in the automotive manufacturing industry and the concentration of scientific research and entrepreneurial talents. Currently, the company is also further promoting the establishment of its R & D department in Hangzhou.
Against the background of increasing uncertainty in the global trade environment, PIX Moving's "AIGC + digital manufacturing" paradigm also allows teams around the world to directly download design data from the cloud and print vehicle parts locally through metal 3D printing, thus achieving global distributed manufacturing capabilities and coping with the impact of tariff policy fluctuations to a certain extent.
3. Deeply cultivate the Japanese market from the supply chain to the organization
"Our current relatively fast development in Japan is actually related to the accumulation in the previous few years." Yu Chuan introduced that PIX Moving started to expand its customer base in Japan in 2018. After several market surveys, it gradually understood the market demand in Japan and determined its product direction. In March 2023, PIX Moving officially promoted its process of going global to Japan and registered a Japanese subsidiary with the help of the Japan External Trade Organization (Jetro).
In fact, PIX Moving's first step into the Japanese market was not through products. Instead, by cooperating with well - known Japanese universities and institutions, it compiled the knowledge accumulated in the fields of autonomous driving and artificial intelligence into teaching courseware and jointly organized training programs such as summer camps, engineer training, and hackathons to establish connections with local industrial resources and gradually participate in government projects.
"Slow - starting is the biggest characteristic of the Japanese market. The process of building trust between people and between enterprises is relatively long," Cao Kuangning, the vice - president of PIX Moving, said at an event of the Chinese Enterprises International Service Center in March this year. "The Japanese business custom is to often visit the site. So, if you want to really do well in the Japanese market, you must have a resident institution and personnel locally to establish a long - term trust relationship with partners."
For half a year after the establishment of the Japanese subsidiary, the PIX Moving Japan team kept visiting customers. By October, it determined a three - year business plan for Japan based on market research and received bulk orders in November. In June 2024, PIX Moving and its investor, the IT system integration listed company TIS, established a joint - venture company in Japan, with its headquarters in Tokyo. PIX Moving also jointly built a factory with TIS in Maebashi, Kanagawa, 60 kilometers away from Tokyo.
PIX Moving Japan Factory
"The Japanese are very cautious when it comes to cooperation. They must see the actual products produced in the factory to believe you and be willing to sign a contract with you. Just saying that you have a company and a factory in China is hardly convincing," Cao Kuangning told us.
In 2025, PIX Moving plans to expand its local team in Japan to about 40 people, including business development and factory production personnel. Yu Chuan said that in the early days of the establishment of the Japanese company, it preferred to recruit Chinese employees with long - term living and working experience in Japan. As the business gradually deepened, it also began to recruit more local talents who have worked in multinational companies and have cross - cultural experiences. "People with such backgrounds generally have a stronger sense of tolerance and are more adaptable to collaborating with teams from different cultural backgrounds."
However, the layout of local talents is not easy. In Japan, the recruitment cycle for a position is generally 3 - 6 months. Different from the highly competitive workplace environment in China, the young labor force in Japan is in short supply, and it is often the young talents who choose the enterprises.
In response, Yu Chuan said, "We may have a bit of confidence in the local Japanese market because what we do is quite cool, and our products are quite interesting, which is still attractive to young people. Moreover, our company has been an international team since its establishment, so the Japanese team may be more receptive."
Moreover, for Chinese companies going global, communication management with local employees and two - way cultural integration are also major challenges. To improve the collaboration efficiency of overseas employees and reduce communication costs, PIX Moving introduced AI technology in its cross - regional daily operations, integrating the company's internal knowledge database on the "AI Co - CEO" platform. When overseas team members don't understand the product technical details, they can directly call up information from the AI Co - CEO, avoiding the troublesome process of communicating with the Chinese technical team.
"I think honest communication is the most crucial. We always emphasize that PIX Moving is an international team. We should respect and understand the differences in different regions and not blindly pursue the consistency of the global team," Yu Chuan said.
It is reported that in addition to Japan, PIX Moving will also dispatch and recruit local employees in major key markets such as Europe. For other emerging markets under expansion, at this stage, it will first rely on the support of ecological partners to promote its global expansion layout in different regions.