36Kr Exclusive | URTOPIA Co-Founders Launched a Smart Ring, Crowdfunding Exceeds 10 Million RMB

Author | Zhang Ziyi

Editor | Yuan Silai

Recently, AI wearable brand AIVELA announced the completion of its first - round financing of millions of dollars. This round of financing was led by Linear Capital, followed by Fengling Capital, and co - invested by industrial players such as URTOPIA, an intelligent electric assist bicycle brand.

This round of financing will be mainly used for the research and development of next - generation AI wearable products, the construction of health data and AI Agent capabilities, the expansion of the global market, and the growth of the core team. Starting from personal wearable products such as smart rings and smart bracelets, AIVELA will build a new - generation consumer technology brand integrating health perception, natural interaction, and AI health services for the global market.

Currently, consumers' health needs are gradually shifting from simple sports recording to long - term physical state monitoring such as sleep and stress management. In the overseas market, two leading companies with valuations exceeding $10 billion, Oura and Whoop, have emerged, focusing on long - term medical - grade health monitoring and hardcore physical training guidance respectively.

Precedence Research, a research institution, predicts that by 2034, the overall scale of the global smart wearable market will exceed $430 billion, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 20%.

During his successive entrepreneurial journey, Li Donghao, the founder and CEO of AIVELA, suffered from severe sleep problems due to his high - pressure work rhythm and became an early user of smart rings. This experience became the impetus for his entrepreneurship.

While using the smart ring, Li Donghao realized that health is not just about improving sports performance but also includes sleep, recovery, stress management, and the balance of long - term life rhythm. Exercise and recovery are two sides of the same coin. Only by combining them can users truly achieve long - term health goals.

AIVELA's first smart ring product, AIVELA Ring Pro, was launched on Kickstarter in 2025, raising over $860,000 in crowdfunding. In 2026, AIVELA Ring Pro was launched on the Japanese crowdfunding platform Makuake, exceeding 30 million yen on the first day of its launch. As of now, the global crowdfunding of this product has exceeded 10,000 units, with an amount exceeding 10 million RMB.

The smart ring is one of the consumer electronics categories with the highest engineering integration difficulty. The core challenge lies in the "impossible triangle" among performance, space, and battery life: it is necessary to achieve stable health monitoring and interaction capabilities in a very small volume while also considering long battery life, waterproofing, wearing comfort, and an ornament - like appearance.

For AI wearable companies, the real threshold is not just proposing product concepts but whether they can connect product definition, engineering R & D, supply chain management, quality control, global sales, and user service into a replicable commercialization system. AIVELA has completed this closed - loop in its first product, verifying the team's productization and delivery capabilities in complex consumer hardware.

At the hardware level, different from the commonly used capacitive touch solutions in the market, AIVELA's first ring product introduces an optical - based fingertip interaction technology. After adopting this interaction technology, the ring can serve as a "fingertip mouse" to connect to mobile phones, computers, or smart glasses, enabling seamless operation.

At the software and service level, AIVELA attempts to change the traditional device model of "just piling up data charts". By accessing large - language models, AIVELA has built a dedicated AI Agent system.

Li Donghao told 36Kr that traditional health rings often rely on fixed algorithms. For example, when users stay up late, they directly give a low - score warning, which often causes more anxiety. AIVELA's logic is not to give scores but to remind users to pay attention to their own rhythm through active dialogue based on the users' context information and provide personalized suggestions for catching up on sleep at appropriate times.

After running through the mass - production process of the smart ring, AIVELA is planning to expand its product line in the next stage and enter the bracelet market. The advantage of the ring is its lightness and privacy, making it an ideal device for nighttime sleep monitoring. However, its disadvantage is also obvious - it causes obvious discomfort during daytime strength training or cycling in gripping scenarios.

Based on this, AIVELA is developing its first screen - less smart bracelet. This product has invited globally renowned industrial designers and jewelry designers to participate in its R & D. It focuses on core physiological indicator monitoring and features a DIY - friendly appearance, enabling the product to not only perform long - term health perception but also become a lifestyle accessory that users are willing to wear every day to express their personal style. In the future, AIVELA's rings and bracelets will achieve data fusion in the cloud to cover users' complete life scenarios of "day and night" and "stillness and movement".

In terms of the team background, Li Donghao once served as the co - founder and CFO of URTOPIA, an intelligent electric assist bicycle brand, and was deeply involved in the company's construction of a global consumer hardware business from scratch, covering key aspects such as investment and financing, go - to - market (GTM), overseas channels, after - sales service, and cross - border operations. The core team members come from technology companies and brands such as Chanel, Baidu, Alibaba, Xiaomi, Lesense Medical, and Totwoo, covering key capabilities such as brand marketing, industrial design, software and hardware R & D, supply chain management, and global market expansion.

Next, AIVELA plans to further develop online direct - to - consumer (DTC) channels. Relying on the channels and service systems accumulated in the European and American markets in the past, it will gradually build offline experience, sales, and after - sales service networks. It will also attract talents in the fields of AI Agent, smart hardware, health algorithms, and brand expansion overseas to jointly build a global AI wearable brand.

CEO Q&A

Hard Kr: In terms of actual implementation, where are the current mass - production challenges and algorithm optimization difficulties of smart rings concentrated?

Li Donghao: The production line of smart rings is actually very complex, with about 30 workstations, and it is basically assembled by hand. Due to the product form, flexible boards, curved batteries, and various sensors need to be stuffed into a very small space, and the maximum tolerance we can allow is very low. We and the contract manufacturer went through a very painful ramp - up period and invested a lot of resources. Only now have we achieved the current market - leading yield rate.

In terms of algorithms, the degree of freedom of finger movement and "negative scenarios" are much more than those of the wrist. For example, when you type on the keyboard or hold chopsticks, if you directly apply the traditional bracelet's step - counting algorithm, it will make misjudgments. Our current strategy is to start mass - production first and, combined with large - scale feedback from real users, continuously capture edge scenarios for fine - tuning. This is a long - term accumulation process.

Hard Kr: In addition to the current rings, how is the company's future product line expansion planned?

Li Donghao: Our core plan is to build a smart jewelry matrix of "rings + bracelets". I've noticed a pain point. Many overseas users have to buy a thick and heavy silicone protective case just to wear their rings while working out, which is very inconvenient. Rings are naturally suitable for nighttime sleep monitoring, but they are inconvenient during gripping sports, and if you don't wear them, you can't record data.

So we use a daytime bracelet scenario to complement it. In the future, we may explore smart earrings. Since the ears have rich blood flow and are close to the mouth, it is easier to monitor snoring or talking in sleep. The core of product R & D is still to extend around a seamless and comfortable wearing experience.

Investors' Views:

Yang Jun, a partner at Linear Capital, said: "The core of AI wearables is to redefine the product experience and long - term service relationship with AI, rather than simply accessing large - language models. The AIVELA team has a clear judgment on the combination of health, technology, and human nature. We are optimistic about its long - term potential in the AI wearable track."

Ruan Fei, the founder of Fengling Capital, said: "Next - generation overseas brands cannot rely solely on traffic or a single hit product. They must have comprehensive capabilities from product definition, supply chain delivery to brand building. The AI wearable market has huge potential, and we are optimistic about AIVELA's growth into a global brand."

Zhang Bo, the founder of URTOPIA, said: "AIVELA's health monitoring and URTOPIA's sports scenarios are naturally complementary. As a strategic investor, we will conduct in - depth cooperation with AIVELA in dimensions such as AIoT technology, overseas channels, and user operations in the future."