Raised hundreds of millions in financing. A post - 1989 entrepreneur is "washing ships", and Zhu Xiaohu keeps betting on him.

At the beginning of this year, Zhu Xiaohu, a well - known investor and partner of GSR Ventures, publicly stated that he was "exiting humanoid robot companies in batches" because of the high market consensus and unclear commercialization paths.

Recently, this investment powerhouse has plunged into the field of embodied intelligence and, quite unusually, has invested in the same project three times in a row. The company is Shihang Intelligence, an underwater robot company.

The bottoms of giant cargo ships are often covered with barnacles, which significantly increases fuel consumption. The underwater cleaning robot developed by Shihang Intelligence is specifically designed to "clean the bottom" of ships underwater, thereby reducing fuel consumption.

Chen Xiaobo, the founder of Shihang Intelligence, was born in 1989. He studied at two prestigious universities in the Chinese shipbuilding industry, Harbin Engineering University and Northwestern Polytechnical University. He officially founded Shihang Intelligence in May 2023.

Many industry media have commented that "DJI rules the sky, Unitree dominates the land, and Shihang controls the sea."

01

Chen Xiaobo, the founder of Shihang Intelligence, entered Harbin Engineering University in 2007.

In the system of domestic engineering universities, Harbin Engineering University holds a rather special position in the field of ocean - related studies. The university has long focused on four major directions: "shipbuilding industry, naval equipment, ocean development, and nuclear energy application," which is commonly referred to as "three oceans and one nuclear" in the industry. Approximately 30% of the technical and management talents in the Chinese shipbuilding industry graduated from this university, and the proportion of talents in the field of underwater acoustics is as high as 60% - 70%.

It was in this environment that Chen Xiaobo embarked on the path of underwater equipment development. He later recalled that during his studies, he had experience with both aerial drones and underwater robots. However, due to his interests, he ultimately chose the more difficult and niche "underwater" field.

From his undergraduate to master's degree, he was long involved in national - level underwater navigation projects and served as the technical leader. He led or participated in the R & D of several national - level unmanned systems and navigation systems. At the age of 28, he won the First - Class Award for National Defense Science and Technology Progress for his R & D achievements in a certain type of surface unmanned equipment, becoming one of the youngest recipients of this award.

However, his long - term work in the scientific research system also made him gradually realize a problem: although there was deep technical accumulation, not much of it was actually applied in the industry. In an interview, he mentioned that many cutting - edge underwater technologies successfully completed their research in the laboratory but stopped at papers and reports and failed to enter real - world application scenarios, which he considered "the most regrettable part."

Since 2016, Chen Xiaobo has actively tried to promote the application of technology in the industrial sector. He led his team to conduct small - scale verifications in specific scenarios such as ship cleaning and deep - sea exploration, exploring how underwater equipment can truly meet commercial needs rather than remaining at the stage of scientific research projects.

In 2023, Chen Xiaobo officially founded Shihang Intelligence in Kunshan, Suzhou, and completed the angel - round financing in October of the same year. Since then, the company's financing has progressed rapidly. In the public evaluations of Shihang Intelligence by many investment institutions, the word "pragmatic" has become the most frequently used term, which means both a clear product path and a relatively restrained judgment of the team on scenarios and commercial boundaries.

Being "pragmatic" is almost the highest - level compliment in the field of embodied intelligence.

This field is not short of concepts or parameters. What is truly scarce are products that can be put into practice, make money, and be repeatedly used by customers. Coincidentally, the underwater robot industry is entering an acceleration phase. In 2022, the market size of the Chinese underwater robot industry was 11.02 billion yuan, and it is expected to exceed 40 billion yuan by 2027. Shihang Intelligence's entry into the market coincides with this round of expansion.

Targeting a century - old pain point in the shipping industry, Shihang Intelligence has completed multiple rounds of financing, including the angel round, pre - A round, and A round, in just over two years since its establishment.

Shihang Intelligence, founded just over two years ago, has completed multiple rounds of financing, including the angel round, Pre - A round, and A round.

On May 16th this year, Shihang Intelligence announced the successful completion of the angel + round and Pre - A round of financing, with a total financing amount of 50 million yuan in the two rounds. The angel + round was led by China Merchants Group's CM Venture Capital, and the Pre - A round was co - led by GSR Ventures and Yunze Capital, with participation from Kunshan Angel Fund, Wuzhong Financial Holdings, and Anyu Capital.

The recent A - round financing was led by Vertex Ventures, followed by Changshi Capital and Suzhou Venture Capital Group, and with additional investment from existing shareholder GSR Ventures.

So far, Shihang Intelligence has completed cumulative financing of hundreds of millions of yuan.

02

Chen Xiaobo entered the market with profound technical accumulation in marine equipment but did not follow the old path of "telling stories first and then finding application scenarios." Since its establishment, Shihang Intelligence has simultaneously promoted commercialization. Its core product, the underwater cleaning robot "Orca," entered the practical testing stage in the early days and gradually met the real - market demands.

Based on public information and market feedback, it can be inferred that the "Orca" had been in use for over a year by mid - 2025, which means its commercialization time was no later than mid - 2024. This pace has made investors describe it as "seeing the seedlings grow as soon as the seeds are sown" - a project that can support itself almost from its inception.

Another meaning of "pragmatic" lies in the fact that they chose a less - obvious path.

High - end underwater equipment is a well - recognized "tough nut" in the field of embodied intelligence. Waves, currents, surges, high salinity, high pressure, and high corrosion are long - standing natural barriers for robots to operate underwater. In this field, PPT parameters are almost meaningless, and the only acceptable narrative is: what problems have been solved.

There is no shortage of application scenarios, ranging from ship cleaning, offshore wind power maintenance to optical cable inspection. There are plenty of demands in the sea. However, in the early days, there were many doubts about the authenticity of the technology and its commercial feasibility. Some investors even bluntly asked, "Is there actually a person pushing your robot underwater?"

Shihang Intelligence chose to respond with results. It has independently developed six core systems, including power, control, sensing, navigation, waterproof sealing, and power distribution, enabling the underwater robot to operate stably, at high speed, and with full - degree - of - freedom. In just over two years since its establishment, it has accumulated over 150 intellectual property rights related to underwater robots and intelligent boats.

In terms of performance, the "Orca" can operate stably in an environment with a current speed of over 3 knots and cover the entire sea depth range from 0 to 10,000 meters. The patented underwater wet - mate connector solves the long - standing problem of underwater signal and power transmission sealing in the industry, providing basic support for long - term and continuous operation.

The gap is even more obvious in terms of cost and efficiency. In an interview with Titanium Media, Chen Xiaobo mentioned that compared with similar products of international leading underwater cleaning equipment manufacturers, the "Orca" has about three times the operating efficiency and only one - seventh of the cost.

This is almost a "right - medicine" solution for the shipping and trading industries, where ships are the core production tools.

Biofouling organisms such as barnacles on the ship's bottom are a long - standing hidden cost in the shipping industry. They significantly increase hull resistance and lead to higher fuel consumption. Traditional solutions either rely on manual cleaning by divers or dry - docking, which are costly and time - consuming. For example, for the manual cleaning of a 10,000 - ton ship by divers, the labor cost alone can reach 100,000 - 150,000 yuan, and the operation cycle is about 10 days.

The "Orca" can complete the operation without interrupting the ship's voyage and can finish the underwater cleaning of a 100,000 - ton ship in 10 hours. After cleaning, the ship's speed increases by an average of about 2 knots, and the daily fuel cost is saved by about 100,000 yuan.

For shipowners and trading companies, this is not only a cost - saving tool that can recoup the investment in one order but also a systematic optimization of time cost, fuel consumption, and berthing fees.

03

Currently, the embodied intelligence field emphasizes scenarios and ROI. According to 36Kr, at a closed - door meeting of the Sequoia Capital AI Summit in May this year, the consensus was reached that AI should be "priced based on results" and "results should be provided as services." The ocean is a representative field of this value system.

Currently, there are three most easily scalable tracks for underwater robots.

Track 1: In - water ship cleaning/inspection, the fastest to achieve commercialization.

Biofouling significantly increases energy consumption/fuel use, and ports are also promoting robotization. The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) launched the "In - water Hull Inspection and Cleaning Innovation" solicitation in 2025, clearly stating that traditional methods are labor - intensive and pose safety risks. It requires the cleaning system to operate in the narrow spaces of ports with minimal human intervention. Shihang Intelligence has entered this field.

Track 2: Offshore wind power/offshore engineering facility maintenance, a long - to medium - term large - scale market.

Offshore wind power infrastructure (jackets, submarine cables, seabed foundations, pile guards, cathodic protection, and structural inspections) requires long - term underwater inspection and maintenance. As the installed capacity increases, the maintenance model will shift from engineering teams to "robot + data platform" asset management.

Track 3: Submarine pipeline/submarine cable inspection, a track characterized by high thresholds and high customer unit prices.

This type of demand has extremely high requirements for navigation, sensing, positioning, and reliability. However, once a company enters the supply chain, the customer unit price and customer stickiness are both high. In Tracks 2 and 3, there are already well - known companies such as Haitu Intelligence, Deepsea Intelligence, and Blueye Robotics.

In the field of underwater development, "what to do" is as important as "having advanced technology."

This article is from the WeChat official account "Pencil News." Author: Truth - teller. Republished by 36Kr with permission.