Self-developed the world's smallest planetary roller screw, mass production price reduced to the level of hundreds of yuan. "Nuoshi Robotics" completed over 100 million yuan Series A financing | Underwater project
36Kr learned that "Nuoshi Robotics", a core component supplier for embodied intelligence (hereinafter referred to as "Nuoshi"), recently announced the completion of over 100 million yuan in Series A financing. This round of financing was led by Shanghai Semiconductor Equipment and Materials Industry Fund/Pudong Science and Technology Innovation, followed by Legend Capital and Amber Capital. Listed auto parts companies Pengling Co., Ltd. and Kelai Electromechanical made strategic investments, and the old shareholder SAIC Venture Capital continued to increase its investment. Chengyi Capital continued to serve as the company's long - term financial advisor. The funds will be mainly used for capacity improvement, product R & D, and working capital replenishment.
Nuoshi Robotics was founded in July 2023 and focuses on the design, R & D, and manufacturing of micro planetary roller screws and micro linear actuators (electric cylinders) based on them. It is committed to becoming a core supplier of high - precision transmission and motion control in the automotive, humanoid robot, and industrial fields.
Currently, Nuoshi's self - developed planetary roller screw, with a diameter of only 1.5mm and a nut diameter of 5.5mm, the world's smallest, has broken through the mass - production bottleneck of C5 - grade precision screws (positioning accuracy error ≤ 0.023mm/300mm). In addition, Nuoshi's 1.5mm linear joint solution has been adopted by leading domestic humanoid robot manufacturers as the core execution unit for the new generation of models and has been included in the core supply chains of leading automakers and leading embodied companies. It has also jointly developed standardized modules with several leading companies focusing on dexterous hand technology.
The founder, Xu Yang, graduated from Tongji University with a master's degree in mechanical manufacturing. He once served as the head of the R & D department of the Asia - Pacific R & D center of Valeo Group, with practical R & D and management experience in world - class factories. CEO Wang Xiaobin once served as the deputy manager of a Valeo Group branch, participated in the establishment of several new energy vehicle companies, and is good at corporate operation and industrial chain integration. Professor Xu Genlin, the chief technical advisor, has taught at Shanghai Polytechnic University (now Shanghai University), Shanghai Normal University and other universities. He has long been solving the problem of import substitution of precision transmission parts for industries such as automotive, aerospace, and medical, with more than 30 years of theoretical research and production experience in thread technology.
1. R & D of the world's smallest 1.5mm screw, with the mass - production price reduced to 100 yuan
The screw is a common mechanical transmission component that converts rotary motion into linear motion and is widely used in industrial manufacturing fields that require precise control. It is mainly divided into sliding screws (mostly trapezoidal screws), ball screws, and planetary roller screws. Among them, planetary roller screws have advantages such as high load - bearing capacity, impact resistance, and long service life, and are mainly used in high - end fields such as aviation. However, mass production and cost control have always been difficult problems in the industry.
In the field of humanoid robots, especially in the application of dexterous hands, there are almost contradictory requirements for screws: not only must the volume be extremely small to fit into the limited hand space, but also the load - bearing capacity must be large enough to complete delicate operations such as pinching and twisting, while also meeting the conditions of high precision, long service life, and controllable cost.
"The 'want it all' requirements of the dexterous hand scenario basically rule out more than 95% of the suppliers in the market," Xu Yang said. "Thanks to Professor Xu Genlin's more than 30 years of technical and process accumulation in this field, we developed the products needed by embodied enterprises in just a few months."
Nuoshi's core breakthrough is that the planetary roller screw it successfully mass - produced has a diameter of only 1.5mm and a nut diameter of 5.5mm, and can stably carry a weight of 10 kilograms. Compared with ball screws of the same specification, the rated load is increased by 3 - 5 times, and the service life is extended to 15 times. Based on this, a micro linear electric cylinder integrated with a brushless motor and a non - contact sensor has been created, with the size reducible to 8mm x 10.2mm, making it the world's smallest integrated electric cylinder. In terms of reliability, the designed product life of Nuoshi exceeds 3 million cycles, and the performance indicators reach the international leading level.
2. Leverage industry know - how to become a co - builder of the next - generation product architecture
"We don't want to be just a'small and beautiful' parts supplier. Instead, we want to become a co - builder of the architecture of the next - generation products with our customers by leveraging our industry know - how," Xu Yang said.
Since the product structure design of domestic humanoid robot manufacturers has not yet reached an industry consensus, Nuoshi adopts a strategy that combines standardization and customization in the face of different customer needs: for parts such as dexterous hands and legs, it pre - converges technologies according to mainstream mechanical requirements and launches several standard products to ensure mass - production efficiency; for non - standard personalized needs, it responds quickly through a small - batch trial - production workshop to help customers reduce design complexity and cost.
"In the past, robot companies put forward requirements, and suppliers tried to meet them; now, Nuoshi brings a 1.5mm joint solution and re - thinks 'how to make fingers' with customers," an investor said.
Xu Yang believes that Nuoshi's cross - industry service ability in the face of the product needs of different industry customers stems from the company's in - depth understanding of the underlying transmission technology and the compound background of its team members. For example, CEO Wang Xiaobin's past experience in the automotive industry provides key support for the company to enter the automotive wire - controlled chassis market.
Currently, Nuoshi is cooperating with several core Tier 1 suppliers of vehicle manufacturers to develop roller screws for rear - wheel steering systems and participating in intelligent cockpit actuator projects. It plans to stably supply high - value products such as chassis brakes to mainstream domestic automakers from 2026, building a stable cash - cow business.
In April 2025, Nuoshi received its first investment from SAIC Group, opening up cooperation channels for automotive precision transmission parts from wire - controlled braking to suspension and seat adjustment. Xu Yang introduced that among the industrial capital parties in the latest round of financing, in addition to SAIC Venture Capital, which invested again, Legend Capital was also introduced. With its ecological network, it links Nuoshi's humanoid robot business with leading body companies.
Other investors will also provide support from different aspects. For example, Pudong Science and Technology Innovation will assist Nuoshi in connecting with the robot and semiconductor industry cluster resources in the Yangtze River Delta; Pengling Co., Ltd. and Kelai Electromechanical will provide cooperation in the automotive industry chain and experience in automated production; as a CVC focusing on investments in the core fields of digital transformation, Amber Capital previously participated in the investment in Unitree Technology and can help Nuoshi better enter other parts of the humanoid robot track.
"Our vision is to become the most core flexible actuator supplier in the automotive, humanoid robot, and even industrial fields. By perfecting our hardware products, we aim to grow into an 'invisible champion' that can define the industry," Xu Yang believes. "The AI and embodied industries are developing at an exponential speed. 'The evolution speed of the industry can no longer be predicted by past experience, and our goal is likely to be achieved faster than expected.'"