Shanghai Zhuoyide Robotics Co., Ltd. recently completed a 100 million yuan financing round.
Zhuoyide was founded in 2021, but its founder, Li Qingdu, has been engaged in humanoid robot research for 20 years. In November 2015, he led his team to develop the “Xingzhe No. 1” robot, which set a Guinness World Record by walking continuously for 134.03 kilometers. After that achievement, he began working on the “Xiaobei” humanoid robot, which has undergone four iterations. “Xiaobei 4.0” stands 1.6 meters tall, weighs just 28 kilograms, and has a battery life of up to 6 hours. This lightweight, safe, and low-power robot has immense potential for entering homes and factories.
With the rise of large-scale AI models, humanoid robots have become a hot sector for startups. Last year, through the matchmaking efforts of the Technology Transfer Center at the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology (USST), Li Qingdu connected with several investment institutions, though the financing process was slow. Liao Yuqing, Director of the Technology Transfer Center at USST, explained: “Investors were very optimistic about the Zhuoyide team and their technology, but since some of the company’s intellectual property was shared with the university and research teams, there were concerns over unclear ownership, which made investors hesitant.”
USST launched a reform on technology ownership rights to address this issue this year. In July, the “USST Pilot Management Measures for the Reform of Technology Ownership Rights” was released. Based on this document, Li Qingdu’s team signed an agreement with the university, obtaining full ownership of one employee invention patent and one proprietary technology. As part of the deal, Zhuoyide will pay 20% of the third-party assessed value of the technology as compensation for the rights; however, since the company is registered in USST’s National University Science Park, this fee is reduced to 10%. The company will “feed back” to the university through commissioned projects, creating a long-term, mutually beneficial partnership.
This reform proved to be highly effective. Just two months after signing the agreement, Zhuoyide secured a total investment of 100 million yuan from several institutions.
Currently, Zhuoyide Robotics focuses on providing intelligent robot solutions for scientific research, education, interactive services, and home care scenarios, to create “the safest and most practical humanoid robots.”
