BlueRun Ventures Continues Backing, Keyi Tech Closes New Funding Round | BlueRun Ventures

Recently, consumer robotics company Keyi Technology closed a new funding round, led by Anker with follow-on investments from existing shareholders BlueRun Ventures, Shunwei Capital, and Xiaomi. BlueRun Ventures was Keyi Technology's Series A investor and has participated in multiple subsequent rounds.

Jui Chan, Managing Partner of BlueRun Ventures, said: As Keyi Technology's first institutional investor, we're delighted to see the company gain recognition from more investors. Keyi Technology is dedicated to bringing modular robotics into household settings, launching smart consumer robots tailored to different ages and use cases, while building an active and engaging content-sharing community. Founder Jianbo Yang has exceptional product instincts and iteration capabilities, blending intelligent technology with art to continually push the boundaries of what consumers can create and experience. Founded in 2014, Keyi Technology is a consumer robotics company focused on building robots that enter the home. The company applies industrial-grade control algorithms to consumer robotics products. Its debut product, ClicBot (a programmable modular robotics kit), successfully integrates control technology, sensing, and AI into artistic design, creating a delightful smart toy for children.

Since its launch one year ago, ClicBot has won over consumers from numerous countries and regions. Leveraging its modular robotics system, it has successfully built a community platform where users of different ages and locations create and share content. ClicBot's play patterns are highly extensible and full of randomness, becoming more engaging as players gain experience.

Currently, ClicBot users span 82 countries and regions, with 99% of new platform content created by users. Novel pet-like robots, tool and lifestyle applications, and more continue to refresh the modular robotics experience. This user-generated "UGC" robot content has already fulfilled ClicBot's product vision of "the robot you can never finish playing with."

In the community, users create over 10,000 pieces of content monthly. The platform has also attracted professional ClicBot content developers, with these top creators averaging more than 200 developed pieces each. This rapid growth shows ClicBot is gradually becoming the App Store equivalent for robots.

Going forward, ClicBot's hardware and software infrastructure will grow more powerful — more modules, more sensing capabilities, more intelligence. The company will continue to push forward in the home consumer robotics direction, building more emotionally resonant robot products.

Keyi Technology Moments

The world's first ClicBot self-operated flagship store opened in late March 2022, located on the first floor of the North Zone of Beijing's CBD Guomao Mall, covering 125 square meters. The store design was crafted by a Finnish designer team, drawing inspiration from sculpture park concepts to artfully blend technology and art.

Last week, renowned German magician Simon Pierro brought ClicBot onto the Ellen Show, a major American talk show, delivering a spectacular robot magic performance to global audiences.

Professor Mi Haipeng from Tsinghua University's Academy of Arts & Design led students through a lively and engaging workshop combining art and robotics, interpreting robotic aesthetics. Using ClicBot, he designed six distinct robot characters with vivid personalities, presenting their interconnected stories through film.

Further reading: Keyi Technology's Jianbo Yang: The Next Era of Robotics Belongs to the Disruptors | BlueRun Dialogue

BlueRun Ventures Quarterly Investment Overview | 2022 Q1

BlueRun Ventures was founded in 1998 in Silicon Valley. BlueRun Ventures China was established in 2005 as a venture capital firm focused on early-stage startups.

Currently, BlueRun Ventures manages multiple USD and RMB dual-currency funds in China, with assets under management exceeding RMB 10 billion. The firm focuses on Pre-A and Series A investments across hard tech and innovative interaction, enterprise technology, new consumer, and healthcare sectors. It has invested in over 150 startups, including Li Auto, Waterdrop, QingCloud, Guazi.com, Qudian, Songguo Mobility, Ganji.com, Energy Monster, Yuntu Semiconductor, Machenike, CloudSaints Intelligence, Anxin Wangdun, and BioMap.

BlueRun Ventures has been ranked #1 in Zero2IPO's "China's Top 30 Early-Stage Investment Institutions," #1 in ChinaVenture's "China's Best Early-Stage Venture Capital Institutions TOP30," and named among Preqin's Top 10 Global VC Fund Managers for Sustained High Returns.

The firm has also received consecutive honors from Forbes China, 36Kr, Cyzone, Caixin Media, CBNweekly, Jiemian, and other media organizations, including "China's Best Early-Stage Institution of the Year," "China's Top Venture Capital Firm," "Most Entrepreneur-Friendly Early-Stage Institution of the Year," and "Most Influential Early-Stage Institution of the Year."