Boyu, Matrix Partners, and Shunwei Capital invested over 100 million yuan in the former COO of Neolix, betting on AI ultra-portable e-paper | Exclusive report from Yingke
Author | Huang Nan
Editor | Yuan Silai
When smartphones are stuck in a situation of over - performance and the homogenization of AI functions, and users' attention is infinitely dissected and contested, a long - neglected corner is quietly opening up a new track - the idle space on the back of the phone.
Hard Krypton exclusively learned that Yue Xingtong, an AI ultra - portable e - paper brand, recently completed a series of financings from the angel round to Series A, with a cumulative amount of over 100 million RMB in five rounds. The investors include Boyu Capital, Qingliu Capital, Xiyang Capital, Xiaohongshu, Matrix Partners China, and Shunwei Capital, and most shareholders have continued to increase their investments. The funds will be used to improve the production and quality audit systems, expand overseas markets, build community content, optimize the product experience, and jointly build an AI - era mobile phone secondary screen ecosystem with global users.
Yue Xingtong pioneered the "ultra - portable e - paper" category. Its products deeply integrate AI capabilities with minimalist hardware design and smooth software experience, focusing on providing a dedicated and immersive reading entrance for users in the digital age.
Yue Xingtong ultra - portable e - paper (Source/Enterprise)
Hu Yufei, the founder and CEO, is a seasoned serial entrepreneur. He graduated from The Chinese University of Hong Kong and has served as the COO of Neolix, the Chief Development Officer of OYO Hotels, the co - founder and COO of Bluegogo, the general manager of Ele.me's crowdsourcing division, and the general manager of Uber China in three cities. Many core members are from institutions such as The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Fudan University, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and University of Maryland. They have worked in leading Internet, smart hardware, and AI companies, possessing a complete ability loop from creating hit products to global growth.
Few people expected that when Hu Yufei started a new business again, he would dive into a hardware industry that is so light and easily "ignored" to make an e - paper reader that can be magnetically attached to the back of a mobile phone.
Its first product weighs only 70 grams, has a 4.3 - inch screen, and is priced at less than 300 yuan. But this small accessory hidden behind the phone screen, without any promotion costs, relied on the co - creation and crowdfunding of "cloud shareholders" in the Xiaohongshu community to quickly complete the closed - loop from product definition to large - scale verification within a year.
"It was the users who worked with us to polish this small screen into what it is today," said Hu Yufei, the founder and CEO of Yue Xingtong. During the product definition and iteration process, a large number of early users participated in providing demand feedback and function suggestions through the community. The company will also continue this co - creation model in the future, opening up user participation channels during the project establishment and prototype design stages of future products and directly incorporating user feedback into the early R & D process.
70 grams, 4.3 - inch screen (Source/Enterprise)
In recent years, the e - paper industry has long ceased to be a niche business. According to data from Lotu Technology, the global e - paper terminal market scale exceeded 14.2 billion US dollars in 2025, maintaining high - speed growth for three consecutive years. In the domestic market, leading brands such as iReader, Boox, and Hanwang account for more than 80% of the share, forming two mature paths: "large - screen open system" and "closed content ecosystem".
However, a long - standing product experience problem has never been solved. Traditional readers are either independent devices that require users to "carry an extra device", or they have pain points such as over - spec and complex operations during product iteration, and ultimately end up as "instant noodle covers". Even similar products that claim to be portable are difficult to become a high - frequency and essential entrance due to redundant forms and a disconnection from the mobile phone workflow.
The deeper industry change lies in that users' needs have shifted from "immersive in - depth reading" to fragmented and focused information acquisition. A CounterPoint report points out that the global smartphone ownership has exceeded 7 billion. Users' front screens are bombarded by hundreds of applications, endless push notifications, and algorithms, and their attention is becoming increasingly fragmented.
In contrast, the long - idle smooth plane on the back of each mobile phone is still an undeveloped "pure land of attention". This is the structural opportunity that Yue Xingtong has spotted.
"Young people no longer need another device full of applications and distractions. Instead, they need a low - interference, lightweight, and one - click accessible attention outlet," said Hu Yufei.
Therefore, Yue Xingtong also follows this trend in its product solution: instead of making an independent device, it becomes the "secondary screen of mobile phones in the AI era". Its product uses a minimalist magnetic design. Its ultra - thin thickness is comparable to a card, and it is almost unnoticeable when attached to the back of the phone.
Hu Yufei told Hard Krypton that in today's era when attention has become a scarce resource, the core value of Yue Xingtong is not eye - protection but "noise reduction". It provides users with an extremely low - cost attention switching channel. "What we do is to help users shorten the path to open various APP channels and obtain effective information to the shortest."
Users only need to turn over their phones to enter a pure reading space without APP push notifications, social media, or short - video distractions, meeting high - frequency and lightweight needs such as comics, light novels, fragmented news, and personalized information display.
According to official data, since Yue Xingtong's products were launched in the fourth quarter of 2025, the monthly sales have increased by more than 10 times in just half a year. In the overseas market, the monthly sales exceeded 10,000 units in the first month, and the X4, X3, and Tong Card have been sold to many countries and regions around the world. Currently, the company's average monthly revenue has exceeded the total revenue of 2025.
Yue Xingtong ultra - portable e - paper (Source/Enterprise)
On the basis of the first - generation product validating the hardware value of the "mobile phone secondary screen", Yue Xingtong's ambition goes far beyond just making an e - paper or a reader.
Hu Yufei revealed to Hard Krypton that the company is building a three - terminal collaborative model of "edge - side e - paper + mobile phone computing power + cloud - side inference". By integrating cutting - edge AI Agent capabilities such as OpenClaw, it will upgrade Yue Xingtong's small hardware screen into an attention entrance in the AI era.
After users turn over their phones, they can use the AI Agent to quickly obtain the required personalized information flow, schedule reminders, financial news, or to - do lists without unlocking, searching, and screening in a sea of push notifications. Instead, in a new, low - interference, and highly sticky interactive interface, information truly changes from being "pushed" to being "subscribed" and from "passive reception" to "active acquisition". This new product will be launched in the middle and late 2026.
"In the long run, we believe that the back of the mobile phone is an ecological niche that has been severely underestimated," said Hu Yufei. Currently, AI mobile phones are moving towards edge - side intelligence, and the competition for entrances has extended from the front of the phone to the entire scenario. Yue Xingtong has chosen another path, using a combination of "hardware innovation + lightweight AI implementation" to become a natural extension of the mobile phone screen in a low - cost and highly user - acceptable way, creating a new form of intelligent terminal.
With a minimalist subtraction solution, it precisely hits users' real pain points in high - frequency scenarios. The intervention of AI is re - evaluating the value of this "small card". Yue Xingtong has quietly occupied the next traffic entrance in the AI era on the back of the mobile phone.
Comments from investors:
Gao Fapu, Managing Director of Boyu Capital said that in the AI era, information is infinitely expanding, and the real scarce resource is no longer information itself but the ability of deep focus and high - quality reading. Yue Xingtong has created a secondary screen that can be carried around to help users manage their attention through extreme focus. We continue to be optimistic about the company's development potential in the AI era.
Mao Yuhao, Investment Vice - President of Qingliu Capital said that in today's era where everyone talks about AI and functions are constantly piled up, Yue Xingtong has shown a courageous restraint. Instead of blindly piling up functions, it has controlled the BOM cost at an extremely low level through the ultimate "subtraction philosophy" while achieving excellent user mind - share. The logic of investing in Yue Xingtong is actually very simple: we are optimistic about its in - depth exploration of the "reading essential need" in the segmented track, as well as the team's strong capital efficiency and product definition ability. Based on this, combined with the collaborative model of "edge - side e - paper + mobile phone computing power", it will become the purest hardware entrance that understands users best in the AI era.
Yang Xi, Partner of Xiyang Capital said that Yue Xingtong has successfully defined a new category of "ultra - portable e - paper" through its extremely lightweight design and immersive reading experience integrating software and hardware, and even made the brand itself a synonym for this category. As an angel investor, this is Xiyang Capital's first leap - forward investment from upstream technology to a consumer - grade hardware brand. We will continue to empower Yue Xingtong through the Xiyang technology ecosystem to help it explore the infinite application scenarios and imagination of the "mobile phone secondary screen" in the AI era.
Chen Weijia, Director of Matrix Partners China said that the e - reader market has been proven to have a large shipment volume, but there are still strong pain points. With the rapid development of AI and hardware capabilities, there may be opportunities for new brands to re - define the category. Hu Yufei is an atypical hardware entrepreneur with traits such as agility, efficiency, and AI thinking. He co - created the product form of "ultra - portable e - paper" with users through build - in - public. Although it is far from perfect, real pain points + product ingenuity + continuous polishing have won user word - of - mouth and achieved rapid self - dissemination at home and abroad, with obvious growth momentum. We look forward to Yue Xingtong continuing to bring creative products to users and further exploring the business model.
Cheng Tian, Partner of Shunwei Capital said that we have long been concerned about the innovation value of mobile phone ecological accessories in the AI era. Yue Xingtong has precisely grasped the market gap of mini e - ink screens. With its portable, eye - protecting, and long - lasting product design, it has hit the core needs of users for fragmented reading and personal efficiency management, showing a clear growth rhythm and winning high recognition from the user group. We look forward to Yue Xingtong continuing to deepen its efforts, expanding the market boundaries, creating a new attention entrance, and creating long - term value for users with real product strength.