Interview with ZHU Qiuguo, CEO of Cloudminds: We are one of the "Six Rising Stars in Hangzhou," but we're still a small company.

B2B customers won't pay for the "Six Rising Stars of Hangzhou." It still comes down to the product.

After being included in the "Six Rising Stars of Hangzhou" along with Unitree Robotics, DeepRobotics gained significant fame. However, its founder and CEO, Zhu Qiuguo, rarely gave interviews to the outside world before.

In November 2017, when the company was founded, it was autumn. Coupled with Zhu Qiuguo's love for traditional Chinese culture, the name "DeepRobotics" is inspired by the poem "Traveling in the Mountains" by Du Mu, a Tang Dynasty poet: "A winding path leads far away up the cold mountain; In the depths of the white clouds, there are human dwellings."

For a long time, DeepRobotics has been as low - key as its name suggests. Zhu Qiuguo told "China Entrepreneur" that "In the depths of the white clouds, there are human dwellings" also implies exploring the unknown and serving humanity.

In December 2024, in the power tunnel of Singapore Power Group, a Chinese robotic dog named "Jueying X30" from DeepRobotics was conducting autonomous navigation inspections. When it encountered potential hazards such as water seepage and cracks that could cause power supply failures, it could record and report them in real - time.

Jueying X30

This is the first time that a Chinese quadruped robot has been put into practical use in an overseas power system. For this reason, DeepRobotics won praise from Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on overseas social media: "So cool."

Able to adapt to various conditions and move freely, DeepRobotics' robotic dogs are called "special forces for high - risk scenarios" by netizens. At the same time, DeepRobotics is also good at cost control. The cost of its robotic dogs with the same performance is only one - third to one - half of that of Boston Dynamics.

In August this year, at the World Robot Conference, "China Entrepreneur" met Zhu Qiuguo. He said that he has always had a dream of getting robots out of the laboratory.

"They should be able to go outdoors and truly help people solve practical problems in dangerous, harsh, and complex scenarios. They should step forward when people really need them."

This is also the survival rule that DeepRobotics has targeted since its inception.

Zhu Qiuguo revealed that DeepRobotics' revenue in 2024 increased by more than 100% compared to 2023. He said that in 2025, DeepRobotics' robot shipments will reach the level of 10,000 units, and it has now entered markets in Asia - Pacific, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas.

Currently, the DeepRobotics team has nearly 400 members, mainly concentrated in product R & D, manufacturing, marketing, and sales. In July 2025, DeepRobotics completed a financing of nearly 500 million yuan, jointly led by Fortune Capital and Guoxin Fund, with follow - on investments from institutions such as Beijing Robot Industry Development Investment Fund, Qianhai Mother Fund, CCTV Media Convergence Fund, and Huaying Capital.

As of now, DeepRobotics has received a total of 7 rounds of financing from multiple institutions, including Inno Angel Fund, Yuanhe Origin Ventures, Bangsheng Capital, Shenzhicheng Industrial Investment, Huajian Function Investment, Fangguang Capital, and Saizhi Bole Investment. Many of these institutions have state - owned capital backgrounds.

Regarding the funds from this round of financing, Zhu Qiuguo said that they will be mainly invested in the expansion of the quadruped robot production line, the R & D of humanoid robot technology, and the introduction of high - end talents.

From the Laboratory to Real - World Applications

DeepRobotics was founded in November 2017 by Zhu Qiuguo and Dr. Li Chao, who also came from the Zhejiang University laboratory.

Currently, DeepRobotics' self - developed "Jueying" series and Lynx series robots have been put into practical use in various environments such as power inspections, security patrols, surveys and explorations, public rescues, corridor tunnels, metal smelting, building surveys, and education and research.

The quadruped robot industry report released by IDC shows that in 2024, the global quadruped robot market exceeded 180 million US dollars in scale, with shipments of about 20,000 units. The application demand expanded in fields such as power, oil, and public safety. DeepRobotics ranked first in the industry in multiple B2B application fields.

In 2018, DeepRobotics launched the first domestic quadruped robot capable of going up and down stairs, autonomous navigation, and intelligent interaction; in 2019, it released the first domestic quadruped robot capable of autonomous charging; at the 2024 World Robot Conference, DeepRobotics' first humanoid robot DR01 made its debut, officially announcing its entry into the humanoid robot field; in April 2025, DeepRobotics released the Lynx M20 wheel - legged robot, which can adapt to harsher environments such as mountain roads and ruins.

From technological breakthroughs to scenario implementation, Zhu Qiuguo went through nearly three years of lonely exploration.

When Zhu Qiuguo and Li Chao first started their business, the idea of university professors starting a business was not favored by capital. At that time, their goal was simple and harsh: "At that time, we thought it would be good if we could survive for three to six months. We were betting on whether we could make the first - generation prototype before the money ran out." Zhu Qiuguo recalled to "China Entrepreneur."

As a result, in less than a year, DeepRobotics launched its self - developed first - generation quadruped robot, which also became the first domestic quadruped robot capable of going up and down stairs and autonomous navigation. Later, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich purchased DeepRobotics' robots for research and published an article in the top journal in the robotics field, "Science Robotics," which was selected as the monthly cover article.

At that time, Zhu Qiuguo and his colleagues named the quadruped robotic dog "Jueying," inspired by the horse "Jueying" of Cao Cao in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms." It galloped on the battlefield with extraordinary speed and a lithe figure, with the boldness of "leaving others far behind." It implies being as swift as a shadow.

In 2018, with its first - generation robotic dog product, DeepRobotics received millions of yuan in external investment. However, Zhu Qiuguo's sense of urgency and crisis did not disappear. "After the investment came in, I thought we could survive for more than a year. Just like Jack Ma said before, I think about the possibility of the company going bankrupt every day." Zhu Qiuguo said.

At that time, the quadruped robot industry was still quite far from real - world applications due to high costs and immature technologies.

Regarding the application scenarios of "Jueying," Zhu Qiuguo did not see a clear path. "At that time, it couldn't even climb over a curb, and it was easy to slip on curved surfaces. Just making the robot walk steadily was already a great achievement."

The turning point came in 2020. At that time, the staff of China Southern Power Grid actively contacted Zhu Qiuguo and asked if they could try using robotic dogs for substation inspections. Zhu Qiuguo regarded it as "lucky favor." However, behind this trust was the in - depth exploration and accumulation of the DeepRobotics team in basic capabilities such as the underlying operating system, communication architecture, and positioning and navigation algorithms for more than two years.

"The power grid is a very serious scenario. Even now, they won't buy an extra unit just because you are one of the 'Six Rising Stars of Hangzhou.' In the end, it still depends on whether the product can be truly put into use." Zhu Qiuguo told "China Entrepreneur."

After that, DeepRobotics continued to focus on power inspections as its core scenario. The strict requirements of the power scenario also refined the product features of DeepRobotics in reverse, enabling more robust motion control, stronger environmental perception and anti - interference ability, and more stable long - term operation. Eventually, DeepRobotics not only expanded on a large scale in China but also opened the door to overseas markets such as Singapore.

After successfully verifying the direction in the power scenario, Zhu Qiuguo quickly reused and expanded the capabilities to the emergency fire - fighting field. In this field, robotic dogs can replace rescue workers to enter high - risk environments such as those with toxic gases, lack of oxygen, and prone to collapse for reconnaissance and rescue operations; they can penetrate complex structural environments in advance, conduct all - around intelligent reconnaissance of objects, terrain, and harmful gases, and clear the "blind spots of life" for firefighters. At the same time, they can also transport rescue supplies and equipment to assist in rescue operations.

By 2025, quadruped robots have reached a critical stage of transitioning from technological verification and scenario exploration to large - scale commercial applications. The market scale is growing rapidly, and application scenarios are constantly expanding. DeepRobotics' quadruped robots have entered more and more scenarios such as public security patrols, tunnel corridors, steel plants, and even "last - mile" logistics distribution.

The Necessity of Full - Stack Self - Development

"Looking at the world, it is very difficult to make a robot product truly stable," Zhu Qiuguo, who has always been cautiously optimistic, emphasized many times in the interview.

In the past eight years, what has supported DeepRobotics in crossing the scenario gap and transforming from "robot prototypes" to "reliable industrial products" is its full - stack self - development of core technologies and its arduous efforts in the supply chain.

In the early days of entrepreneurship, Zhu Qiuguo and his team tried countless versions of the robot operating system. The supply chain was an even greater challenge for Zhu Qiuguo and his team. "The motors were 'wound' by hand. We had to develop them ourselves to improve the power density," Zhu Qiuguo recalled to "China Entrepreneur."

At that time, due to the lack of mature suppliers and the absence of a perfect large - scale production system in the industry, for the key components of "Jueying" such as high - torque - density joint motors, precision reducers, and special controllers, the team had to work with suppliers to explore step by step from design, material selection to the manufacturing process.

Jueying Lite3

This "forced" full - stack self - development has ultimately become DeepRobotics' core competitiveness. As of now, DeepRobotics has more than 100 authorized patents, including more than 20 invention patents, covering key technologies in the entire chain of embodied AI such as hardware structure design, intelligent motion control algorithms, multi - modal environmental perception, and autonomous navigation and decision - making.

The key milestone in the technological breakthrough of quadruped robots is the in - depth application of reinforcement learning algorithms in motion control. "It has qualitatively improved the stability, flexibility, and adaptability of robots to various complex and unstructured scenarios. This is a key step for robots to be truly put into use," Zhu Qiuguo pointed out.

Based on the new technology, in April 2025, DeepRobotics released a new robot product, the Lynx M20, which is an industry - application wheel - legged robot designed for complex terrains and dangerous environments. It combines the speed of wheeled robots and the flexibility of legged robots, can operate normally in a temperature range of - 20°C to 55°C, can climb an 80 - centimeter high platform, and supports autonomous perception, autonomous navigation, and omnidirectional obstacle avoidance.

Lynx M20

In addition, in the face of extreme operating environments such as rough mountain roads, muddy wetlands, and ruins, combined with AI motion control algorithms, the Lynx M20 can autonomously adjust its traveling posture to achieve full - domain operations.

Besides technological breakthroughs, cost control is another key to large - scale implementation.

With the country's emphasis on the humanoid and legged robot industries, policy guidance, and the increase in market expectations, the supplier ecosystem for robot core components (such as motors, drivers, and sensors) has also matured rapidly, with more options available. The price of robots has gradually decreased, and the processing technology has been steadily improved. Thanks to its first - mover advantage and mass production in multiple scenarios, DeepRobotics has also gradually reduced its costs.

This hardcore technological gene comes from the profound academic background and engineering capabilities of the founding team. Zhu Qiuguo studied mechatronic engineering at Zhejiang University as an undergraduate, laying a hardware foundation. At the master's and doctoral levels, he switched to control science and engineering, specializing in bipedal humanoid robot control. He was deeply involved in the development of Zhejiang University's "Wukong" bipedal robot series and witnessed the complete process from "theoretical drawings to a running physical object."

In addition, Dr. Li Chao, the co - founder of DeepRobotics, and the core team also come from top universities such as Zhejiang University, Peking University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Harbin Institute of Technology, the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, and the Georgia Institute of Technology. The close integration of industry, academia, and research has provided continuous technological nourishment and an innovative vision for DeepRobotics.

It Will Take 10 Years for Humanoid Robots to Mature

In 2024, with the progress of products such as Tesla's Optimus, humanoid robots became the global focus. In the same year, DeepRobotics released its first humanoid robot DR01.

However, Zhu Qiuguo is cautious about the layout of humanoid robots. He believes that "it will take at least 10 years for humanoid robots to develop from technological breakthroughs to mature applications. This is calculated from the formation of industry consensus and the start of national - level investment."

He cited examples such as Honda's ASIMO in Japan, which dominated the robot industry for 10 years and demonstrated the technological feasibility. Boston Dynamics' Atlas also took more than 10 years of iteration to reach its current level of motion ability.

In Zhu Qiuguo's view, "the core value of a humanoid lies in its dexterous hands and operation ability, not just walking on two legs. If the hand - operating ability is truly broken through and can perform delicate tasks as dexterously as a human, then this ability can be fully applied to wheeled platforms or robotic dogs. Whether it is in a humanoid form is not the most critical factor."

Therefore, in the face of the future of humanoid robots, DeepRobotics chooses to focus on embodied AI, especially the combination of operation and mobility, but remains cautious about the R & D of underlying large - scale models.

"DeepRobotics is an embodied AI company. We will focus on improving the intelligent capabilities of the robot itself (embodied). R & D of basic large - scale models is not our strength," Zhu Qiuguo told "China Entrepreneur."

In the interview, Zhu Qiuguo always emphasized that "practice is the only criterion for testing robots. No matter how much you promote, if it can't be put into use, it won't work. It still comes down to product strength. Industry customers are not educated; they are conquered by problem - solving abilities