The new forces of robots are very strong this year. The company was invested in by Sequoia, Meituan and others right after its establishment.
Recently, the World Robot Conference was held in Beijing, with up to 200 robot companies participating in the exhibition and over a thousand exhibits of various kinds.
From the achievements on display this time, it can be intuitively felt that in 2025, global artificial intelligence and robot technology have achieved rapid development, and at the same time, the Chinese robot industry has also witnessed a new round of explosion.
Therefore, we attempt to focus on the new forces among robot companies - which robot companies have received investment since their establishment this year?
Provincial and Municipal Distribution: Shenzhen Leads, Followed Closely by Beijing, Shanghai, and Zhejiang
According to IT Juzi data, as of August 2025, nearly 30 newly - established robot companies this year have received venture capital.
Geographically, these robot companies are highly concentrated in economically developed regions and technological innovation hubs, reflecting the industrial cluster effect.
In particular, Shenzhen, Guangdong dominates, with a total of 9 new robot companies established (accounting for about 32%), including Miaodong Technology, Yuansheng Xianda, Lingshu Power, Hero Cyber Robot, Yushu Intelligent Robot, Xingcan Intelligence, Qingyu Technology, Bankong Intelligence, and Yaodong Technology. This is mainly due to its perfect hardware supply - chain advantages, a good entrepreneurial ecosystem, and strong policy support, which have made Shenzhen a hotbed for robot hardware R & D.
There are 3 newly - established robot companies in Beijing (accounting for about 11%), such as Daka Robot, Zhizai Wujie, and Lingyu Intelligence, all located in Haidian District. Relying on the strong scientific research and talent resources in Haidian, they emphasize the in - depth integration of AI and robots.
Zhejiang also performs well, with 3 newly - established robot companies, including Hangzhou Huigan Intelligence, Hangzhou Leyi Intelligence, and Shaoxing Zhiding Robot, focusing on fields such as sensors and cleaning robots.
There are 2 in Shanghai, namely Haohai Xingkong and Yili Times, and 2 in Hunan (Changsha) - Ruihaoda and Maisi Zhiqu. In addition, there is 1 each in other provinces such as Anhui (Hefei), Chongqing, Hubei (Wuhan), Sichuan (Chengdu), Guangxi (Liuzhou), Jilin (Changchun), Jiangsu (Suzhou), and Shandong (Zibo), showing a relatively scattered overall distribution.
It is worth noting that some companies are located in university science and technology parks or development zones. For example, the intelligent robot R & D company "Ruihaoda" established this year is registered in the Yuelu Mountain University Science and Technology City (College Students' Entrepreneurship Base) in Changsha, and Yaodong Technology is located in Shenzhen Nanshan Yungu Entrepreneurship Park.
In addition, they may also receive investment from state - owned assets, such as Changsha Lushan KeTou, Hefei Binhu JinTou, and Shenzhen Gaoxinqi Strategic Emerging Industry Park. This also indicates that local governments are actively promoting the implementation of the robot industry through multiple levels such as office space, funds, and incubators.
Overall, the eastern and southern coastal regions dominate, accounting for about 75% of the total. Central and western provinces (such as Chongqing, Sichuan, and Hunan) are beginning to emerge, but on a smaller scale. This reflects the regional imbalance in the robot industry: first - tier cities are accelerating iteration with their talent and capital advantages, while inland regions are mainly seeking breakthroughs through specific scenario applications (such as sanitation and special operations).
Investment Rounds: Early - stage Financing Dominates, with Angel Rounds Accounting for Over Half
IT Juzi data shows that these companies are generally in the start - up stage, and financing is mainly in the early rounds. The angel round is the most common, accounting for about 60%, with amounts ranging from tens of millions to hundreds of millions of RMB. Those receiving seed - round financing account for about 20%, usually with amounts in the millions or tens of millions of RMB, emphasizing technology verification and product prototypes.
In addition, some start - up robot companies have received strategic investment. For example, Lingshu Power (invested by Fenda Technology) and Hero Cyber Robot (invested by Hero Esports), which may involve cooperation in the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain.
Currently, only a few companies have entered the Pre - A or A rounds. For example, Yuansheng Xianda (Pre - A round) and Gelanruo Robot (A round), indicating that these enterprises have initially verified their market potential.
Based on IT Juzi data, it is estimated that the total financing of these domestic robot companies established in 2025 exceeds 1 billion RMB, but the specific amounts of over half are "not disclosed".
Main Business Directions: Embodied Intelligence Dominates, with Diverse Scenario Applications
Among these robot start - ups in 2025, the business direction is highly focused on "Embodied AI" (Embodied AI), that is, the technology that combines large AI models (such as LLM, VLM) and physical robot bodies. About 70% of the companies mention this keyword. Typical examples include Zero - Power Robot (humanoid robots for services and education, etc.), Miaodong Technology, and Zhizai Wujie (general intelligent agents integrating motion navigation).
Bionic robots and special robots are also current investment hotspots, including Jilin Bionic Robot (multi - modal perception system) and Zhike Jiyuan (construction in extreme environments, such as hydropower and nuclear power).
Other directions include:
Ø Household/consumer - grade robots, such as Annu Intelligence (household AI services), Yaodong Technology (smart home automatic door - opening robot), and Xingcan Intelligence (lawn mowing robot);
Ø Industrial robots, such as Yuanli Lingji, which is committed to industrial and logistics automation.
Ø Cleaning robots, such as Zhiding Robot (floor cleaning and facade cleaning) and Bankong Intelligence (cleaning of commercial building glass curtain walls);
Ø Core components such as sensors and reducers, such as Huigan Intelligence (multi - modal perception) and Lingshu Power (harmonic reducer).
Overall, these companies emphasize "scenario implementation", covering both B - end and C - end (consumer - grade) from industry (logistics, manufacturing) to services (medical, education, sanitation), but mainly B - end. The sales channels of some companies' consumer - grade products target the international market. For example, the first product of Yaodong Technology, the indoor automatic door - opening robot, and the lawn mowing robot developed by Xingcan Intelligence are mainly sold to the North American market.
In terms of technical paths, many rely on top - tier universities for incubation (such as Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University, Jilin University, and the Shenzhen Research Institute of Nanjing University), and integrate large models, reinforcement machine learning, and multi - modal fusion, aiming to solve the pain points of traditional robots, such as autonomous decision - making and adaptation to complex environments.
Key Analysis: Companies with Over 100 Million in Financing and Promising Potential Stars
Three robot companies have been established for less than a year, but their total financing exceeds 100 million RMB, standing out among many start - ups and worthy of key attention.
Zero - Power Robot (Hefei, Anhui, total financing of hundreds of millions of RMB+):
As the newly established robot company with the highest financing amount, it is incubated by Tsinghua University and the Jianghuai Frontier Technology Collaborative Innovation Center. The main members of the team are all post - 2000s from the AI & Robot Intelligent Robot Laboratory of Tsinghua University.
Zero - Power Robot focuses on embodied intelligent humanoid robots. In 2025, it completed angel, angel +, and angel ++ rounds of financing. Investors include Shuimu Fund, Tongchuang Weiye, and Hefei Innovation Investment. It is expected to deliver 500 robots this year, focusing on commercial service scenarios.
It is worth noting that behind its rapid multi - round financing, the strong promotion of the local government (Hefei Binhu JinTou) is evident.
Yuanli Lingji (Jiangbei District, Chongqing, total financing of 200 million RMB):
In Q1 this year, Yuanli Lingji announced that it had received 200 million RMB in angel - round financing, with investors including Legend Capital, Qiming Venture Partners, and Yufu Holdings. It is reported that the founder, Fan Haoqiang, graduated from the School of Interdisciplinary Information (Yao Class) of Tsinghua University and served as the algorithm director of the well - known Chinese artificial intelligence company Megvii Technology.
Yuanli Lingji focuses on embodied intelligent solutions in the industrial and logistics fields, integrating LLM, VLM, and reinforcement learning to improve the robot's autonomy in complex environments. Its future potential lies in promoting the intelligentization of physical scenarios.
Miaodong Technology (Shenzhen, Guangdong, total financing of tens of millions of US dollars):
In April this year, Miaodong Technology received tens of millions of US dollars in angel - round financing, led by Sequoia Capital China, Matrix Partners China, and Meituan Longzhu.
The company is committed to entertainment robot products, emphasizing the integration of playability and intelligence. Targeting global users, it enters the cultural and entertainment market, avoiding the highly competitive industrial market, which reflects the investment attractiveness of consumer - grade robots.
It is worth mentioning that the founding team has both experience in large companies and educational backgrounds from well - known universities at home and abroad. The founder, Yang Shuo, graduated from the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology for both undergraduate and postgraduate studies, and his tutor is Professor Li Zexiang. He served as a member of the Tesla Optimus project team and the technical director of DJI. The co - founder, Gao Jianrong, served as the person - in - charge and senior director of DJI Education.
In addition to these financing giants, other new companies worthy of attention include those with unique technologies or strong resource backing despite relatively low financing amounts.
For example, Yuansheng Xianda mainly engages in the R & D of intelligent robots, especially self - developed multi - dimensional tactile sensor products. Investors include the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation College under the system of Professor Li Zexiang, Qigao Capital, and the industry giant Keli Sensing.
Beijing Zhizai Wujie has proposed a modular end - to - end architecture to achieve complex reasoning for humanoid robots and has received investment from Lenovo Star and others. Wuhan Gelanruo Robot focuses on quadruped and humanoid robots, has formed products, and is backed by Jingduan Technology, suitable for the field of special robots.
Shenzhen Yushu Intelligent Robot is initiated by the sanitation leader Yuhetian Group, focusing on urban sanitation and logistics, emphasizing the "equipment + platform + service" model and is expected to be quickly implemented in B - end scenarios.
In addition, Jilin Bionic Robot relies on Jilin University to build a bionic embodied intelligent system. Although its financing is small, it has strong industry - university - research collaboration and is worthy of long - term tracking.
This article is from the WeChat official account “IT Juzi” (ID: itjuzi521), author: Wu Meimei, published by 36Kr with authorization.