Humanoid Robotics Startup Robot Era Secures $69 Million Series A Funding
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Unitree’s humanoid robots and intelligent robotic dogs served as ‘AI guides’ at the launch of a property project in Jieyang, Guangdong province, on March 9, 2025,
Chinese humanoid robotics firm Robot Era, a spinout of Tsinghua University, announced on Monday it has raised nearly 500 million yuan ($69 million) in a Series A round — a strong signal of continued enthusiasm among investors for embodied AI despite a cooling market.
The round was jointly led by CDH Investments and Haier Capital, with investments from others including Houxue Capital, Meridian Capital, Xianghe Capital and Zhejiang Fore Intelligent Technology Co. Ltd. Existing investors including Crystal Stream Capital and Tsinghua Holdings Co. Ltd. also increased their stakes.
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- Robot Era, a Tsinghua University spinout, raised nearly 500 million yuan ($69 million) in a Series A round, bringing total 2024 funding above 900 million yuan.
- The company develops humanoid robots like STAR1 and Q5, and its software, ERA-42, executes over 100 tasks via voice commands; more than 200 robots have been delivered globally.
- Despite a cooling AI market, investments in Chinese humanoid robotics remain strong, though competition and technology standards are still evolving.
AI generated, for reference only
Who’s Who
- Robot Era
- Robot Era is a Chinese humanoid robotics firm, a spin-out from Tsinghua University. They design both hardware and "brains" for robots, specializing in full-body control and manipulation algorithms. Their products include the STAR1 humanoid, Q5 service robot, and XHAND robotic hands. They've raised significant funding, including a nearly 500 million yuan Series A round, and have delivered over 200 robots globally.
- CDH Investments
- CDH Investments is a Chinese investment firm that jointly led a nearly 500 million yuan Series A funding round for Robot Era, a humanoid robotics firm. They invested alongside Haier Capital in this round, showing continued interest in the embodied AI sector.
- Haier Capital
- Haier Capital is an investment firm that co-led a nearly 500 million yuan Series A funding round for Robot Era, a Chinese humanoid robotics firm. Haier Capital is also a client of Robot Era through its affiliate, Haier Smart Home, and is collaborating with Robot Era to develop a home service robot.
- Houxue Capital
- Houxue Capital is an investment firm that participated in the Series A funding round for Robot Era, a Chinese humanoid robotics company. They were among several investors, including CDH Investments and Haier Capital, who contributed to Robot Era's nearly 500 million yuan ($69 million) fundraising.
- Meridian Capital
- Meridian Capital is an investor in Robot Era, a humanoid robotics firm that spun out of Tsinghua University. Meridian Capital participated in Robot Era's nearly 500 million yuan ($69 million) Series A funding round.
- Xianghe Capital
- Xianghe Capital is an investor in Robot Era, a Chinese humanoid robotics firm and Tsinghua University spinout. Robot Era recently raised nearly 500 million yuan ($69 million) in a Series A funding round.
- Zhejiang Fore Intelligent Technology Co. Ltd.
- Zhejiang Fore Intelligent Technology Co. Ltd. is an investor in Robot Era, a Chinese humanoid robotics firm. They participated in Robot Era's Series A funding round, which raised nearly 500 million yuan ($69 million).
- Crystal Stream Capital
- Crystal Stream Capital is an existing investor in Robot Era, a Chinese humanoid robotics firm. They increased their stake in Robot Era's Series A funding round and previously led a Pre-A round for the company in October 2024.
- Tsinghua Holdings Co. Ltd.
- Tsinghua Holdings Co. Ltd. is an existing investor in Robot Era, a humanoid robotics firm spun out of Tsinghua University. They increased their stake in Robot Era's recent Series A funding round. Robot Era is the only embodied AI company with direct equity participation from Tsinghua University.
- Vision Plus Capital
- Vision Plus Capital, a Chinese venture capital firm also known as Yuanma Capital, was an investor in Robot Era. They participated in the Pre-A funding round for the humanoid robotics firm, alongside Crystal Stream Capital and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
- Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
- Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. participated as an investor in Robot Era's Pre-A funding round, which secured 300 million yuan in October 2024. Other investors in this round included Crystal Stream Capital, Vision Plus Capital, and Lenovo Capital.
- Lenovo Capital
- Lenovo Capital participated as an investor in the Pre-A funding round for Robot Era, a Chinese humanoid robotics firm. Robot Era secured 300 million yuan in October 2024 in this round.
- Century Golden Resources Group
- Century Golden Resources Group is an investor in Robot Era, participating in their seed round of funding. They are also a client of Robot Era, which designs and develops humanoid robots and their operating systems.
- Turing Ventures
- Turing Ventures is an
- Haier Smart Home
- Haier Smart Home is a client of Robot Era, a Chinese humanoid robotics firm. They are collaborating with Robot Era to launch a home service robot. Haier Capital also jointly led a nearly 500 million yuan ($69 million) Series A funding round for Robot Era.
- Lenovo
- Lenovo is mentioned in the article as a client of Robot Era, a Chinese humanoid robotics firm. Additionally, Lenovo Capital participated in Robot Era's Pre-A funding round in October 2024.
- Riamb (Beijing) Technology Development Co. Ltd.
- Riamb (Beijing) Technology Development Co. Ltd. is a logistics firm that is a client of Robot Era. Robot Era's humanoid robot, STAR1, is being tested at Riamb for industrial tasks like transport and scanning.
- Shanghai Ant Lingbo Technology
- Shanghai Ant Lingbo Technology is a subsidiary of Ant Group. It recently secured a nearly 100 million yuan angel+ funding round on June 26. The company operates within the humanoid robotics sector, contributing to the continued investment landscape despite a general cooling of the embodied AI market.
- Unitree Robotics
- Unitree Robotics is a Chinese robotics company mentioned in the article as having confirmed a Series C funding round on June 19. They are part of the competitive and rapidly evolving humanoid robotics industry.
- Galbot
- Galbot is a Chinese robotics company that secured 1.1 billion yuan in financing on June 23, 2025. This investment signifies continued investor interest in the humanoid robotics sector, despite a broader cooling in the embodied AI market.
- X Square Robot
- X Square Robot is a company in the embodied AI and humanoid robotics sector. In May, they announced a multimillion-yuan deal, indicating investor interest in the field despite a generally cooling market. No further details about their specific products or operations are provided in the article.
- Magiclab
- Magiclab is a robotics company that announced a multimillion-yuan funding deal in May. It is mentioned among other humanoid robotics startups that have recently attracted investment despite a cooling market in the embodied AI sector.
AI generated, for reference only
What Happened When
- 2023-08：
- Robot Era was founded by Chen Jianyu with support from Shanghai Qi Zhi Institute and direct equity participation from Tsinghua University.
- 2024-01：
- Robot Era closed an angel round exceeding 100 million yuan after its seed round led by Century Golden Resources Group and Turing Ventures.
- 2024-10：
- Robot Era secured 300 million yuan in a Pre-A round led by Crystal Stream Capital, Vision Plus Capital, and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
- 2024-10：
- A viral video of STAR1 jogging drew widespread attention on social media.
- 2024-12：
- Robot Era launched its embodied large model ERA-42, a multimodal vision-language-action (VLA) model.
- 2025-05：
- X Square Robot and Magiclab both announced multimillion-yuan deals.
- 2025-06-19：
- Unitree Robotics confirmed its Series C funding round.
- 2025-06-23：
- Galbot announced 1.1-billion-yuan financing.
- 2025-06-26：
- Shanghai Ant Lingbo Technology, a subsidiary of Ant Group, raised nearly 100 million yuan in an angel+ round.
- As of 2025-06：
- Robot Era had delivered more than 200 robots, with hundreds more in mass-production orders.
- 2025-07-07：
- Robot Era announced it had raised nearly 500 million yuan in a Series A round led by CDH Investments and Haier Capital.
AI generated, for reference only
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