36Kr Exclusive | Smart Kitchen Appliance Team Backed by GAO Bingqiang, "LISSOME," Completes Over RMB 10 Million Pre-A Round of Financing

Author | Zhang Ziyi

Editor | Yuan Silai

Yingke has learned that the smart kitchen appliance brand "LISSOME" (hereinafter referred to as "LISSOME") recently completed a Pre - A round of financing exceeding tens of millions of yuan. This round was led by Professor Gao Bingqiang and Gaofeng Patient Capital, with Zhiguang Capital serving as the exclusive financial advisor for the financing. Previously, LISSOME had cumulatively received tens of millions of yuan in financing from Clear Water Bay Fund, Xbotpark Ningbo Base, and Challenger Venture Capital. The funds from this round of financing will be mainly used for product R & D iteration, team expansion, and market channel development, as well as to improve the supply chain layout.

LISSOME was incubated at the Xbotpark Base. It is an innovative brand focusing on smart kitchen appliances and food technology. The company spans technical fields such as robotics, intelligent sensing, and motion control, and has currently applied for more than 30 technical patents. The capsule - type dishwasher R1 is the latest product launched by LISSOME.

With the changes in family structure and the rising trend of pursuing a quality life, the demand for small - family living scenarios is rapidly emerging. Traditional built - in kitchen appliances that are bulky and time - consuming are difficult to meet the needs of the new generation of consumers. Data shows that the market for freestanding dishwashers is expected to achieve the fastest growth rate of 10.5% between 2025 and 2032, thanks to the flexibility of their installation locations, making them an ideal choice for rented properties and small - sized residences.

On the other hand, thanks to the continuous evolution of technology, dishwashers still have significant growth potential in the global and Chinese markets. Data from Data Brige shows that the global smart dishwasher market was worth $5.13 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach $11.08 billion by 2032, with a compound annual growth rate of 10.1% during the forecast period.

After identifying the demand for smart kitchen appliances in small - family living scenarios, LISSOME launched the capsule - type dishwasher R1 in June 2025. The product is only 28 cm wide, equipped with a water pressure of 100,000 Pa and four - arm storm sweeping technology, enabling a 15 - minute quick wash without the need for installation or pipeline modification. The product has received a good market response since its launch and was rated as one of the "Seven Coolest Products" at the 2025 CES in the United States.

(Image source/Enterprise)

This achievement comes from technological breakthroughs and innovation. The miniaturized design of the capsule - type dishwasher places extremely high demands on the internal structure, and the supply chain of traditional large - sized dishwashers cannot be reused. Take the 100,000 Pa high - pressure brushless integrated water pump installed in the R1 as an example. The team had to develop the pump from scratch.

Steve, the founder and CEO of LISSOME, told Yingke: "There has never been such a small water pump in the industry, so we had to go through the entire process from pump design, mold development to high - temperature resistance testing."

Yingke learned that to achieve a 15 - minute cleaning effect, the LISSOME R1 capsule - type dishwasher borrowed design concepts from the AI robot and sensor industries. It designed the dishwasher's waterway system more precisely, pioneered a vertically - driven spray arm controlled by a motor, and achieved 360° three - dimensional and efficient spraying, greatly enhancing the bottom - spraying method of traditional dishwashers.

At the same time, relying on the self - developed FOC precise motion control algorithm, the LISSOME R1 can flexibly switch between multiple cleaning modes, including fixed - point, variable - speed, and cross - cleaning, to precisely deal with various stains.

The underlying innovation brought by technology also enables the capsule - type dishwasher R1 to achieve functional breakthroughs. "We installed an intelligent module on the R1, giving it the function of automatically opening the door for a 2 - minute flash drying. Previously, this function was often only available in high - end models costing over ten thousand yuan," Steve said. "We also pioneered the back - flushing automatic dishwashing liquid dispensing technology, solving the problem of detergent blockage in the industry. One dispensing can last for more than two weeks of cleaning."

In addition, the R1 is equipped with a triple - disinfection setting, featuring 70 - degree high - temperature washing, UVC ultraviolet disinfection, and plasma odor - removal disinfection functions. According to Steve, this combination also enables the R1 to have four functions in one machine. "It can be used as a dishwasher, a fruit and vegetable cleaner, a disinfection dryer, and a baby bottle cleaner."

(Image source/Enterprise)

In the future, LISSOME will continue to focus on kitchen living scenarios, explore the possibility of integrating intelligence into daily life through the application of innovative technologies such as AI robots, and launch more innovative kitchen appliance products.

In terms of the team, the founder Steve has more than 10 years of experience in robot design, sensors, and motion control. The co - founder Xu Lingjie has worked at companies such as UFactory and DJI and has experience in global hardware brand and channel expansion. Most members of the R & D team come from companies such as DJI, Midea, and Fangtai.