After 8 years of R & D and over 200 million yuan in pre - sales, this Shenzhen - based company has created the world's only consumer - grade snow - sweeping robot | Insight Global

When going global becomes an increasingly core strategy for Chinese companies, how to conquer the global market has become an extremely professional topic. In the evolution of globalization, many Chinese brands have stood at the forefront. In view of this, Yingke has launched the "Insight Global" column to explore the cutting - edge directions and opportunities for Chinese brands to go global from the perspective of brand growth and change, providing thoughts and inspiration for companies going global and the industry.

This is the 42nd issue of our column. Founded in 2017, Yarbo, a company of Hanyang Technology, has long focused on the pain points of users' courtyard maintenance. Taking the snow - clearing scenario as a breakthrough, after 5 years and 8 iterations, it has launched a modular robot. Its "1 + N" design concept has realized the expansion from a single function to full - scenario courtyard maintenance. With just one product, its annual sales exceeded 200 million yuan . In the highly competitive landscape of the intelligent robot market, we had a chat with Huang Yang, the CEO of Yarbo, Hanyang Technology, about how a company can identify a high - value blue - ocean market.

Author | Huang Nan

Editor | Yuan Silai

On a winter morning at minus 30 degrees, Rochester in northern New York State, the United States, was still pitch - black.

This is one of the top ten cities with the highest snowfall in the world. The snow on the streets was dozens of centimeters thick. In the biting wind, residents wrapped in thick down jackets, gloves, scarves, and hats, with only their eyes exposed, appeared in their yards. They picked up shovels or started snow blowers and began to fight against the snow.

After a night, the snow was thick, heavy, and mixed with ice layers, making it extremely laborious to shovel. This work would last for dozens of minutes until the black pavement of the driveways and sidewalks was exposed again.

Few people would like this boring and tiring job, but in Europe and the United States, snow - clearing is a public responsibility regulated by laws. Take the United States as an example. 39 out of 50 states have clearly put forward snow - removal regulations. Failure to clear snow within the specified time will result in fines and criminal liability.

This immediate and strongly - needed operational demand has given rise to a huge equipment market. In the United States alone, according to data from FHWA and other sources, more than 70% of urban roads in the United States are located in snow - prone areas, and single - family homes account for a large proportion of the local housing types. Every cold winter, homeowners must clear the snow. Although the snow - clearing tools are not used frequently, they are necessities that these families keep in their warehouses.

At the same time, snow - clearing is also a dangerous and strenuous physical labor. In extreme weather of minus 30 degrees, people have to push equipment weighing hundreds of kilograms to clear snow within a limited time, which poses great safety risks and increases the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, injuries, and even death. In just 15 years from 2003 to 2018, more than 90,000 people went to the emergency room due to snow - clearing.

In 2017, Huang Yang, the founder of Yarbo, Hanyang Technology, was conducting overseas research on courtyard products. He keenly captured this user pain point. Huang Yang found that although snow - clearing is a necessity, the common tools on the market are mostly snow shovels or snow blowers. Due to the high technical threshold, few companies are involved in the field of snow - clearing robots, and the market has long been in a blank state.

At that time, Yarbo, Hanyang Technology, had been established for 2 years and had decided to develop courtyard robots, but was still exploring which niche direction to focus on. When Huang Yang discovered this untapped field of snow - clearing robots, the company decided to first penetrate the ultra - low - temperature snow - clearing scenario.

They didn't expect that it would take a full 8 years to develop a product. In 2024, Hanyang Technology officially entered the commercialization stage and launched the first product of the courtyard robot Yarbo. This robot adopts the "1 + N" model of a main unit with multiple application modules, which can meet the different needs of users throughout the year. It is currently the only commercially available consumer - grade snow - clearing robot and multi - functional courtyard robot in the world.

Yarbo robot product matrix (Source/Enterprise)

With a delivery cycle of nearly 5 months, Yarbo, Hanyang Technology, launched a full - payment pre - sale on its independent website for the first time. The average price of a main unit plus module combination was about $5,000, and it received more than 6,000 user orders. With just one product, its annual sales exceeded 200 million yuan .

The success of the pre - sale model proves the strong market demand for consumer - grade snow - clearing robots and also verifies the differentiation and scarcity of its products.

North America and Europe are the main sales regions for Yarbo, Hanyang Technology. Currently, Yarbo, Hanyang Technology, has completed hundreds of millions of rounds of Series A financing. Its annual production capacity can reach more than 200,000 units, and it is expected that the shipment volume in 2025 will reach 100,000 units, with a ten - fold growth rate for three consecutive years.

A Business with Ultra - High Thresholds

Currently, most courtyard robot startups mainly focus on two vertical directions: lawn mowing robots and pool robots. In contrast, the snow - clearing scenario is still a blue - ocean market.

According to data from QYResearch and other sources, as of 2022, the global snow - blower equipment market was worth approximately $2.5 billion. From 2023 to 2029, the market is expected to grow at an average annual compound growth rate of 4.5% - 5.5%, and is expected to reach $3.5 - 4 billion by 2029.

Among the common snow - removal equipment on the market, gasoline - powered snow blowers dominate, accounting for 60% - 65% of the market share. Their advantages are strong power and suitability for clearing thick snow, but they are noisy during operation, difficult to operate, and pose certain safety risks during storage and use. Therefore, electric and battery - powered snow - clearing robots have grown rapidly in recent years.

According to data from Gartner and other sources, as of 2023, companies engaged in the research and development of snow - clearing robots are concentrated in North America and Europe, mainly traditional garden tool manufacturers such as Toro, Belrobotics, and Husqvarna. Yarbo, Hanyang Technology, is the first startup to enter this field.

Snow - clearing robot Yarbo S1 (Source/Enterprise)

When judging which market to enter, Huang Yang spent almost half a year in overseas front - line scenarios, conducting user research. After looking at many intelligent courtyard tools, he found that snow - clearing robots are one of the most in - demand and challenging niches in the courtyard market.

"For example, the lawn mowing robots that have attracted high market attention are relatively easy to iterate in terms of hardware structure. The form of today's lawn mowing robots is very similar to that of traditional lawn mowers. The sizes of wired and wireless models are similar, and only intelligent improvements are needed to complete the product form. In contrast, snow - clearing robots are a completely new category from intelligent algorithms to the hardware end," Huang Yang analyzed to Yingke.

For early - stage startup teams with limited resources, the complex hardware structure design is a huge challenge. During daily operations, snow - clearing robots operate in cold outdoor environments with harsh working conditions. They require many high - precision and high - performance components to work together under ultra - low - temperature conditions, which poses a great challenge to the equipment performance.

In North America, where there are heavy snowfalls all year round, the snow can sometimes be dozens of centimeters thick. Snow - clearing robots need to have a powerful power system to drive large - sized spiral blades and snow - throwing barrels.

To address problems such as torque reduction and difficult starting of ordinary motors in extremely cold weather, special low - temperature - resistant batteries and motors need to be designed to ensure that the equipment can work stably and continuously in an environment of minus dozens of degrees.

At the same time, the complex terrain and various types of snow during the snow - clearing process, such as wet snow, dry snow, or ice layers, also increase the R & D difficulty of its mechanical structure, sensors, and algorithms. Taking the snow - removal components as an example, wet snow is highly sticky, so the blades and snow scrapers need to have good anti - sticking performance and require special coating treatment; dry snow is loose, so the shape and rotation speed of the blades need to be optimized to increase the snow - throwing distance.

Yarbo, Hanyang Technology, iterated its product 8 times before finally solving technical problems such as self - heating of low - temperature batteries, wireless - powered motors, and anti - condensation water.

Yarbo courtyard robot (Source/Enterprise)

Due to the complex snow - clearing scenario and high difficulty in hardware development, building the supply chain is also a huge challenge. Huang Yang told Yingke that about 60% of Yarbo's current supply chain partners are exclusive suppliers.

As a new category, there are no mature supply - chain modules for snow - clearing robots to reuse. A large number of core components, including low - temperature power batteries, wireless - charging batteries, low - temperature motors, and special multi - module replaceable connectors, need to be independently developed and customized, which is costly and time - consuming.

The long delivery cycle also brings potential risks, such as supply - chain fluctuations and changes in raw material prices, which may further affect the product delivery time and user experience.

Nevertheless, in the past year, after Yarbo, Hanyang Technology, launched a full - payment pre - sale on its independent website, all the orders have been mass - produced and delivered, and users have given good feedback.

Next, in a situation where few users make repeat purchases, how to increase brand awareness and expand the shipment volume is an even greater challenge.

More Than Just a Snow Blower

Although snow - clearing is a necessity, it only occurs in winter. However, there are different needs in the courtyard throughout the four seasons. Take the United States as an example. According to data from FHWA and other sources, in 2021 alone, out of about 120 million housing units in the United States, there were more than 80 million single - family homes. Moreover, the yards in North America are usually large, at least 500 square meters. Single - family homes generally have spacious driveways, lawns, and sidewalks, and the courtyard layout is relatively open. In addition to snow - clearing, lawn mowing and cleaning are also necessary tasks.

Therefore, a courtyard robot should preferably meet as many user needs as possible and be multi - functional and integrated. Only in this way can it win in the decision - making process when users have a limited budget.

 "The price of courtyard robots determines that it is a product that is difficult to impulse - buy. In the end, it depends on whether users can use the product and how well it works," Huang Yang said.

Yarbo courtyard robot at CES 2025 (Source/Enterprise)

Yarbo's performance far exceeds that of ordinary small - sized courtyard robots. It can be used for snow - clearing in winter, lawn mowing in summer, and leaf blowing in autumn. Its maximum operating area can reach 6 acres, and it can complete an operation area of 2,000 square meters at a time. The crawler - type wheel design gives it stronger cross - country operation ability on all terrains. With the flexible connection design between the front of the vehicle and the body, the Yarbo lawn mower can support a pitch angle of 30 degrees and a horizontal angle of 15 degrees, allowing it to shuttle freely in the front and back yards.

Yarbo is not cheap. The unit price of a single main unit is about $4,000, and with the lawn - mowing module, snow - clearing module, and leaf - blowing module, the selling price is nearly $7,000.

Huang Yang observed that many users choose Yarbo after careful comparison and consideration. In addition to the single - function main unit for the current season, the modular design is more cost - effective in the long run and can be used in spring, summer, and autumn. With a high usage frequency, users are willing to pay and have the stickiness to make repeat purchases.

Yarbo courtyard robot (Source/Enterprise)

With the increasing diversification of user needs, Yarbo, Hanyang Technology, plans to introduce modules for salting, fertilizing, and picking in the future, expanding from the current "1 + 3" to the real "1 + N" model. The company currently has production factories in Huizhou, Guangdong, and Jiashan, Zhejiang.

Currently, as one of the major exporting countries of courtyard robots, after completing the early - stage product definition and scenario implementation, many Chinese startups have reached the stage of large - scale commercialization.

Beyond the fierce competition in the lawn - mowing robot and pool - cleaning robot markets, Yarbo, Hanyang Technology, has found a high - value blue - ocean market and a technological path that can create a competitive edge. It may provide effective reference value for manufacturers in the increasingly homogeneous product competition.