Former production director of Sodick Japan starts a business, competing with Atlas, serving Geely and Mercedes-Benz. The shipment of core products has exceeded 100,000 units | Exclusive report by 36Kr

Author: Ou Xue

Editor: Yuan Silai

Hard Krypton has learned that the robot end - effector equipment manufacturer "Qiaotian Intelligence" recently completed a tens of millions of yuan Series A+ financing round, which was exclusively invested by Zhejiang Venture Capital. We have summarized the information of this financing round and several highlights of the company:

Financing Amount and Leading Investor

Financing Round: Series A+

Financing Scale: Tens of millions of RMB

Investor: Exclusively invested by Zhejiang Venture Capital

Use of Funds: Mainly used for the mass production of the magnetic mold - changing system, the R & D of new products such as robot end - effectors, and the expansion of production capacity

Historical Financing: The company previously received nearly 100 million yuan in angel - round financing jointly invested by Geely Houtong Capital, Waniu Capital, and Midea Capital

Basic Company Information

Establishment Time: 2016

Headquarters Location: Shanghai

Technological Highlights: Currently, "Qiaotian Intelligence" has formed three core product lines: end - effector solutions for body - in - white assembly and welding robots, high - frequency rapid mold - changing and industrial connectors, and precision assembly systems in the three - electric field. Specifically, it covers key equipment such as quick - change devices, gripping systems, welding gun electrode cap grinders, and magnetic mold - changing systems, comprehensively covering the end - execution scenarios of intelligent manufacturing. The company's core product, the robot end - effector quick - change device, has gradually entered the supply chain of mainstream vehicle manufacturers since 2020. The average market launch cycle of new products is 1 - 1.5 years.

Qiaotian's robot end - effector solutions (Source: Company)

Qiaotian's magnetic mold - changing system (Source: Company)

According to Hard Krypton, "Qiaotian Intelligence" is one of the three global robot quick - change device enterprises that have obtained TÜV safety certification. The other two are enterprises from Sweden and the United States. Therefore, the performance and stability of the company's products support seamless replacement of foreign brands.

At the same time, "Qiaotian Intelligence" positions itself as a multi - category, small - batch equipment supplier. Although the market scale of a single product is not large, through the product matrix, the company can sell multiple products to the same customer, thereby reducing operating costs.

Market Size

The robot end - effector equipment market has long been dominated by foreign brands. In terms of product update speed, local service response, and customization ability, it is difficult to meet the upgrading needs of the domestic manufacturing industry, and there is huge room for domestic substitution.

Overall, the domestic market presents a large - but - fragmented situation. Large companies do not focus on single products, and small companies cannot achieve multi - category scale. Among them, according to the analysis of "Qiaotian Intelligence", the market scale of segmented single products is between 200 million and 5 billion yuan, and the single - product share of leading enterprises is between 20 million and 500 million yuan.

Company Performance

The revenue of "Qiaotian Intelligence" increased by 59.34% in 2024 and is expected to continue to grow significantly in 2025.

In terms of the performance of core products, the robot quick - change device, as the main sales product, accounts for about 60%. As of October 2025, the cumulative shipment volume has exceeded 100,000 units, ranking first in the domestic segmented market; the annual shipment volume of the welding gun electrode cap grinder exceeds 6,000 units, and the sales volume also ranks first in the industry. The company's products have successfully entered the supply chains of customers such as Geely, Volkswagen, Mercedes - Benz, and Seres.

Application of Qiaotian's magnetic mold - changing system in Midea's factory (Source: Company)

Team Background

Liu Xiaoping, the founder and chairman of the company, has 20 years of industry experience. He once served as the production factory director and technical director of Sodick Japan. In 2010, he founded Qiaotian Precision to provide OEM services for KUKA robots.

The company's core team combines industrial experience and academic backgrounds, including former technical experts from the engineering academies of vehicle manufacturers, senior executives from foreign enterprises such as ABB and Danaher, and R & D talents from universities such as Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Harbin Institute of Technology.

Founder's Thoughts

Hard Krypton: You mentioned that you don't like cut - throat competition, but the competition in the automotive field is currently fierce. Why do you think the competition faced by "Qiaotian Intelligence" is "not that fierce"?

Liu Xiaoping: This is because we chose a "high - threshold, low - competition" track from the very beginning. The automotive field may have extremely fierce competition, but we mainly provide production equipment for the automotive industry. This field has been monopolized by foreign giants in the past, with extremely high technical barriers and certification thresholds.

We have built a differential advantage by continuously investing in product strength and organizational ability. Specifically, we have invested tens of millions of yuan in lean improvement, which enables us to have better operating efficiency and cost control than our competitors. When some competitors are no longer profitable or even withdraw from the market, we can still maintain profits. Our comprehensive strength allows us to be in a relatively "blue - ocean" position.

Hard Krypton: What is the company's core development path in recent years?

Liu Xiaoping: In terms of product evolution, we will continue to promote the strategic transformation from "hardware to software", focus on the large - scale mass production of the magnetic mold - changing system and the launch of other software products with high - technical barriers, and consolidate our advantage in the product matrix.

In terms of strategic direction, we have noticed that many enterprises focusing on segmented single products in the industry are facing development bottlenecks. Therefore, we plan to systematically integrate some high - quality technology enterprises with revenues ranging from 20 million to 500 million yuan. Ultimately, we hope to build an intelligent equipment platform centered around Qiaotian, following the business models of Danaher and Atlas, to provide more complete solutions for customers.

Hard Krypton: You mentioned that the company is "shifting from hardware to software". Is this a definite strategic trend? What is the logic behind it?

Liu Xiaoping: Yes, this is a very definite trend. We used to focus on mechanical hardware, but now we are firmly extending to electromechanical control and software algorithms. Products like the magnetic mold - changing system and the glue - coating system belong to mechatronics, while other new products under development are completely software and algorithms.

The logic behind this is that simple hardware is easy to be imitated, while "control" is the core of future competitiveness. We have established an internal software and algorithm team, and we must take this path and are already on it. This can help us build a deeper moat and higher product added value.

Investor's Thoughts

The Zhejiang Venture Capital team said that Qiaotian Intelligence has continuously carried out R & D and innovation in the field of robot end - effector products, broken the monopoly pattern of foreign capital, and has been recognized by many automobile manufacturers. In the future, Qiaotian Intelligence has broad development space in the robot end - effector market. As a state - owned venture capital institution, Zhejiang Venture Capital will continue to provide regional and strategic support to accompany the long - term sustainable development of the enterprise.