Former Fourth Paradigm Senior Executive Launches AI Toy Business, Secures Nearly $10M in Financing: New Projects Surface

Different forms of AI toys

Written by Wang Fangyu

Edited by Su Jianxun

One-sentence Introduction

Beipei Technology is an intelligent toy company focusing on the R & D of intelligent toys integrating large AI model technology. It is committed to creating intelligent companion products that truly understand children and parents.

Team Introduction

Huang Yingning, the founder and CEO, holds dual degrees in artificial intelligence from Peking University and child psychology. She was formerly a P10-level executive at Alibaba and the general manager of AIOS at Fourth Paradigm.

Yao Liangchao, the co-founder, was the former head of the intelligent teaching aids department and the new rocket business department at Programming Cat, and the founder of Buta Technology. He has ten years of experience in the children's education and intelligent toy industries and has created several children's products with nearly ten million in sales.

The core members of the team come from globally renowned universities such as Tsinghua University, Peking University, and Stanford University. They have years of experience in the fields of intelligent hardware, deep learning, natural language processing, and child psychology, with dual experience in both technology R & D and product implementation.

Financing Progress

Beipei Technology recently announced the completion of a Pre-A round of investment, exclusively invested by Shunwei Capital. Previously, the company received angel round financing from GGV Capital and angel + round financing exclusively invested by Green Pine Capital, with a cumulative financing amount of nearly ten million US dollars.

Products and Business

Beipei Technology has created the AI toy brand "KidoPally" and launched its first batch of AI toy products - the Friendly Rabbit and the Curious Bear at the end of April this year.

These two products are in the form of plush toys and are equipped with a pair of "glasses". Their main functions include a large children's AI model for natural dialogue, NFC game enlightenment cards, and a parents' mini-program. They are mainly targeted at children aged 2 - 8 globally.

Compared with simple conversational plush toys, the glasses-shaped screen equipped on KidoPally can display rich expressions and learning content such as English words, bringing a more diverse interactive experience.

Most AI plush toy products on the market need to be awakened by pressing, while KidoPally can be voice-activated. It also has low power consumption, allowing for 30 minutes of daily dialogue and no need for charging for a week. The product ranked among the top three in the AI toy category on Tmall two weeks after its launch, validating its market acceptance.

AI toy products of Beipei Technology. Image source: Authorized by the enterprise.

Core Barriers

Different from most AI plush toys on the market that can only have AI conversations, Beipei Technology's AI toys incorporate a glasses-shaped screen, which brings a differentiated form and more diverse functions to the products.

Beipei Technology integrates theories of child psychology and pedagogy into product design and has built a personalized AI model suitable for children. It has capabilities such as continuous memory, emotion recognition, and personalized dialogue, and can also dynamically generate educational content based on children's behavioral data, combining education with entertainment.

In terms of the team, the core members of Beipei Technology's team have the full - chain R & D capabilities in hardware design, algorithm optimization, and content production. Such a team configuration is rare in the industry.

Founder's Thoughts

There is a certain gap between large AI models and adults' emotional companionship needs, and it is difficult to fully meet adults' emotional demands. However, it's different for children. In the early stage of growth, children go through a "panpsychism" stage and are willing to have conversations and establish emotional connections with dolls, kittens, and puppies. Therefore, AI toys can form sticky interactions, exchanges, and companionship with children.
The AI toy track may seem like a low - threshold field, but in fact, consumers are always pursuing a more complete and better experience. To reach that level, a great deal of work needs to be done. This is similar to the situation of counterfeit mobile phones in the past. It seemed that any ODM manufacturer could produce mobile phones, but later, generations of people have shown us that smartphones actually have a high threshold.
Children go through a stage called fine motor skills development during their growth. For example, conventional AI toys require three actions: finger - pressing, speaking, and lifting, which are very challenging for children's fine motor skills, and many children cannot do them. Considering this, Beipei Technology's AI toys use voice - activated dialogue, eliminating the need for button operations and being more in line with children's operating habits.
The NFC game enlightenment cards follow a similar design logic. Some children may have unclear speech during their development stage and cannot accurately make requests to AI toys, but they have no problem with motor skills and can interact with AI toys by swiping cards.
For AI toy manufacturers, the most important AI dialogue function needs to be self - developed because it is the soul of AI toys. Other learning content, such as nursery rhymes and storytelling, can be obtained through cooperation. Of course, whether self - developed or through cooperation, product functions must conform to children's cognition.
The cooperation between IPs and AI toys is a bonus rather than a necessity. Good IPs are not cheap. If the product is strong enough, cooperation with IPs is mutually beneficial. However, if the product is sub - standard, IP holders are also worried about the damage to the IP image and will be very cautious about cooperation.
All technologies are not the essence, neither the Internet nor AI. The most important thing for AI toys is to combine education with entertainment, so that parents are willing to buy and children are willing to play. I think the Xiaotiancai children's watch and the Xiaobawang learning machine are good successful examples.

Notes from the "Intelligent Emergence" Interview

The AI toy track has become extremely popular in the past two years. The inherent impression of this track is that it has a low threshold and many players. To date, there have not been any particularly successful cases on the market. The return rates of AI toy manufacturers that have launched products are generally between 30% - 50%.

Different from most AI plush toys on the market that can only have AI conversations, Beipei Technology's AI toys incorporate a screen, transforming into a combination of a plush toy, an AI dialogue device, an AI early - education machine, an interactive storyteller, and a smart speaker, providing users with a differentiated experience. However, the selling price is similar, also between 400 - 500 yuan, making it a cost - effective choice.

Beipei Technology's products reflect the founder's different thinking about AI toys and provide a reference path for AI toy entrepreneurs. Facing the homogeneous AI plush toys, returning to the most fundamental user needs and defining the form and functions accordingly may lead to a different way out of the dilemma.

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