Diguaji Robot Explodes: $1.8 Billion Investment from Middle Eastern Tycoons

Once again, the figure of a Middle Eastern tycoon appears.

According to investment industry sources, Sweet Potato Robotics has completed a $150 million (approximately RMB 1 billion) Series B2 financing round. The lineup of investors is astonishing —

It is jointly supported by strategic investment institutions such as a retail technology and supply chain giant, Prosperity7 Venture Capital Fund, and Envision Group, as well as first - tier financial investment institutions like Mufangkechuang, Yunfeng Capital, T - Capital, LOOK CAPITAL, and Kailian Capital. Existing shareholders including Hillhouse Ventures, Hexuan Capital, Linear Capital, Huangpu River Capital, Didi, Wuyuan Capital, Chuxin Capital, Plum Ventures, and Vertex Growth under Temasek continue to follow - on invest.

Less than a month has passed since the Series B1 financing round. So far, the cumulative financing amount of Sweet Potato Robotics in the Series B has reached $270 million (approximately RMB 1.8 billion).

From this perspective, investors are scrambling for the last tickets to get on board the embodied intelligence train.

"The Fruit of Horizon", Led by Wang Cong, Rising Rapidly in Two Years

Wang Cong, the CEO of Sweet Potato Robotics, has been extremely busy recently.

He is one of the key figures of Sweet Potato Robotics. He graduated from Beijing University of Technology with a bachelor's degree in his early years and then went to Wright State University in the United States to pursue a doctorate. After graduation, he worked at Alibaba and later founded Wenyin Internet Co., Ltd. as a co - founder. It was not until 2018 that Wang Cong officially joined Horizon, and in 2020, he took over the AIoT team. This year is regarded as the founding year of Sweet Potato Robotics.

Adhering to the principle that Yu Kai, the founder of Horizon, has always emphasized internally: "Compete in areas where there is no competition", Wang Cong and his team set their sights on the robotics track. In 2022, the department was renamed the "Robotics Division", with Wang Cong serving as the general manager of the division. In 2024, it was officially spun off as Sweet Potato Robotics.

The reason for naming it "Sweet Potato Robotics" is, in simple terms, that it is "the fruit of Horizon". Wang Cong also hopes that the company can grow like a sweet potato in various conditions and environments and nourish various users in the robotics industry. There is an episode here: The perception chip of the Insta360 Yingling A1 drone previously released by Insta360 comes from the RisingSun chip of Sweet Potato Robotics. "I asked the team what kind of company Sweet Potato is. It's such a strange name." A joking remark by Liu Jingkang, the founder of Insta360, reveals the first impression of Sweet Potato Robotics from the outside world.

Carrying the brand's original intention of "becoming the Wintel of the robotics era", Sweet Potato Robotics positions itself as a provider of general software and hardware bases for robots. In other words, Sweet Potato Robotics does not make robot bodies but serves all companies that make robot bodies, which can be understood as the "technical partner" behind them.

In Wang Cong's view, there was Windows + Intel in the PC era, and there will definitely be excellent chip and operating system companies in the robotics era. "Embodied intelligence will become a new productivity driving industrial transformation. Sweet Potato Robotics is committed to using a full - link development infrastructure to help customers and developers build a solid foundation and break the common problem of reinventing the wheel in the industry."

Specifically, Sweet Potato Robotics focuses on three major markets: "robot products that have been mass - produced", "ubiquitous new robot applications", and "general intelligent robots for the future". Centered around the RisingSun® intelligent computing chip and the RDK® robot developer kit, it horizontally covers the end - side computing needs of full - scenario applications such as humanoid robots, wheeled - legged robots, quadruped robot dogs, service and companion robots, and logistics AMRs, and vertically connects the complete chain from cutting - edge technology innovation to mass production and implementation.

Investment industry sources obtained a set of data: In 2025, the annual shipment volume of Sweet Potato Robotics increased by 180% year - on - year, and the number of customers increased by 200% year - on - year. The top customers cover the entire field from mature consumer - grade categories to cutting - edge embodied intelligent robots. So far, it has launched more than a hundred robot products in total.

Meanwhile, the number of global developers of Sweet Potato Robotics has exceeded 100,000, a 100% increase year - on - year, and they are spread across more than 20 countries and regions in Asia - Pacific, Europe, North America, etc. As of now, the "Gravity" innovation enterprise acceleration program launched by Sweet Potato Robotics has served more than 500 small and medium - sized innovation teams and helped more than 200 teams launch popular products.

When talking about the mission and vision of Sweet Potato Robotics itself, Wang Cong once said that it aims to become the "parent ecosystem" of the entire robotics industry. But he also emphasized that "if you want to build a robotics ecosystem, it can't just be our company alone because robots need so many things."

To this end, Sweet Potato Robotics has also joined hands with more than 60 upstream and downstream industrial ecological partners in software, hardware, and solutions to jointly create a reliable and complete software - hardware integrated solution, empowering customers and developers to accelerate the large - scale implementation of intelligent robots. As Wang Cong said, "Making a tool that can help everyone based on common points is a very difficult thing, but it may also be the most meaningful thing."

Fierce Financing, the Era of Rapid Development of Chinese Embodied Intelligence

The impression of Sweet Potato Robotics in the venture capital circle began with a luxurious Series A financing round.

In May 2025, on the occasion of its first anniversary of independent operation, Sweet Potato Robotics announced the completion of a $100 million Series A financing round, jointly invested by institutions such as Hillhouse Ventures, Wuyuan Capital, Linear Capital, Hexuan Capital, Jiuhua Ventures, Vertex Growth, Lisi Capital, Dunhong Assets, Feidian Capital, Plum Ventures, and Huangpu River Capital.

In 2026, the Series B financing also began to surface. In March this year, Sweet Potato Robotics completed a $120 million Series B1 financing round. A group of industrial capitals flocked in, including Synstellation Capital, Didi, Meituan Longzhu, Bairui Capital, Joyoung Family Office, Yongning Gaoxin, BAIC Industrial Investment, Jiukun Ventures, Xinlian Capital, Yaruicapital, etc.

Also participating are first - tier financial investment institutions such as Jinqiu Fund, Xingrui Capital, Chuxin Capital, Gengxin Capital, and Yunbai Capital. Existing shareholders such as Hillhouse Ventures, Vertex Growth Fund under Singapore's Temasek, Linear Capital, Hexuan Capital, Huangpu River Capital, Wuyuan Capital, and Plum Ventures all over - invested in follow - on rounds.

Less than a month later, today the Series B2 financing was unveiled. One of the investors in this round, Prosperity7 Venture Capital Fund, has a remarkable background. It is a diversified growth fund under Aramco Ventures, affiliated with Saudi Aramco, a global integrated energy and chemical giant, and focuses on investing in highly scalable startups in the Chinese and American markets.

When talking about this investment, Raed Twaily, the managing director of Prosperity7 Venture Capital Fund, said, "The robotics industry is entering a new stage of development, and this stage has put forward unprecedented requirements for unified, reliable, and scalable infrastructure. Sweet Potato Robotics has unique advantages in this field and is becoming a key force driving the industry's evolution. Its open ecological layout, clear and forward - looking product roadmap, and firm long - term strategy will further accelerate the global implementation of the next - generation intelligent robots. The company is led by an experienced management team, and we are very much looking forward to working with them to jointly shape the future landscape of the industry."

Undoubtedly, software - hardware collaboration is the core driving force for continuous innovation in the robotics industry. Sweet Potato Robotics and Horizon have always maintained the same technological origin and strategic synergy, jointly creating an "embodied intelligence brain". It is understood that the high - computing - power development platform for embodied intelligent robots, RDK S600, of Sweet Potato Robotics can achieve native adaptation and in - depth optimization with Horizon's open - source embodied intelligence cerebellum base model HoloMotion and embodied intelligence brain base model HoloBrain.

Looking around, robots are crossing from the "laboratory prototype" to the "large - scale mass - production" era. Just as Horizon has established the perception of "autonomous driving chips = Horizon" over the years, Wang Cong also once envisioned that "three years later, I hope that when people mention Sweet Potato Robotics, they will think of 'the most user - friendly robot platform'."

At this moment, the Chinese embodied intelligence industry is experiencing the most exciting financing era, with scenes that are truly breathtaking. Opportunities and reshuffles are taking place simultaneously, and we are witnessing an unprecedented industrial wave.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Investment World" (ID: pedaily2012), written by Liu Bo and published by 36Kr with authorization.