Astribot
星尘智能
Astribot (星尘智能) is a Shenzhen-based embodied-intelligence startup founded in December 2022 by Lai Jie, a 16-year robotics veteran who was Tencent Robotics X lab's first employee and previously led Baidu's Xiaodu robot team . The company develops AI-native robots built around a "Design for AI" philosophy: half the team works on hardware, half on AI-driven perception and motion control, with most members drawn from Tencent, Google, Huawei, DJI and top research labs .
Its flagship product, the Astribot S1, is a humanoid-upper-body robot on a wheeled base that uses proprietary cable-drive (绳驱) transmission to mimic human tendon movement, giving it high dynamic response, dexterity and safety in manipulation tasks . The S1 has been deployed in research, eldercare, retail and media settings with partners including JD.com, CCTV and Shenzhen nursing homes, and in September 2025 Astribot announced what Yunqi Capital described as one of the year's first thousand-unit commercial orders for humanoid robots in Chinese industry . The company has also collaborated with Physical Intelligence (Pi) on foundation-model integration and with Tsinghua University on the CLAP video-learning framework .
Yunqi Capital led Astribot's angel round in 2023 and has continued to back it through subsequent rounds; by June 2025 the company had closed Series B funding exceeding 1 billion RMB at a valuation above 10 billion RMB . In May 2026 it launched the T1, a next-generation model priced from RMB 89,900, pushing high-dexterity robots below the 90,000-yuan threshold for broader deployment .
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Coverage
Vol.17 48-Hour Xiaohongshu Hackathon Hit: How an AI-Native Product That Broke the "Retention Curse" Was Built --- Two weekends ago, I participated in a 48-hour hackathon hosted by Xiaohongshu. Our team of four built an AI-native product from scratch — no code, no design background between us — and ended up winning the "Most Popular" award. The product? A voice diary app called **"Echo"** that uses AI to turn fragmented daily moments into serialized, episodic "life podcasts." Think *This American Life*, but starring you. What surprised me wasn't that we won. It was that people kept using it *after* the demo. Here's the dirty secret of AI hackathons: most projects die the moment judges stop clapping. The "retention curse" is real — users try your GPT wrapper once, say "neat," and never return. We broke that pattern. Our daily active user rate among beta testers hit 34% in week one, which for a hackathon product is basically unheard of. How? Three deliberate choices we made against hackathon orthodoxy. **First, we refused to build a chatbot.** The default AI product in 2024 is still "talk to a large language model." We explicitly rejected this. Chat interfaces create *performance anxiety* — users feel pressure to ask the "right
"Astribot Closes Series B Funding of Over 1 Billion RMB, Accelerating Toward the Physical AI Era | Yunqi Partners"
Setting a New Standard for Commercialization in the Physical AI Era
Starting at RMB 89,900, a High-Dexterity Robot Arrives: Astribot Unveils Next-Generation Robot T1 | Yunqi Capital
Moving Toward the Physical AI Era
Vol.16 Tsinghua Entrepreneur-Scientist Huazhe Xu: From Intelligent "Hatching" to Home Embodiment, Stubbornly Chasing Originality in the AI Wave
Vol.15: The Post-'98 Founder Who Built a $20M Business in Two Years — On Building an AI That Talks Back | A Conversation with Kicker's Founder
Yunqi Capital Team | New Promotions and New Members: Rooted Downward, Growing Upward
Let's grow and get better together!
Yunqi Capital's Back-to-Work Special: 17 "AI Moments" From the Lunar New Year at a Tech VC Firm
We co-created an AI watch.
Yunqi Capital | Astribot and Top Research Institutes Propose New CLAP Framework to Teach Robots Skills by Watching Videos
Actions move from the screen into reality
Yunqi Capital | Premier Li Qiang Inspects Guangdong, Astribot, X Variable Robotics, and Robotsquare Demo Their Tech
According to *Xinwen Lianbo*, on January 4, Li Qiang, member of the Politburo Standing Committee and Premier of the State Council, conducted research in Guangdong, engaging in in-depth exchanges with companies and relevant departments on topics including technological innovation, new quality productive forces, and high-quality development.
The True Story of Huadong Wang
"He's the Haruki Murakami of China's investment world."
This Generation of Robots Is Finally Done Being "Parrots" | Yunqi Capital π
Astribot Lumo-1 and the Robot Version of "Master of Reasoning"
Congratulations to JD Industrials on Its Successful Hong Kong Stock Exchange Listing | Yunqi Capital
Technology-enabled, with a promising future ahead.
A 10,000-Word Deep Dive into Physical AI: Chinese Companies and the Global Arena at an Inflection Point | Yunqi Capital Pragmatists
Real Speed and Methodology from Entrepreneurs on the Front Lines
Yunqi Capital Quarterly | Upward, the Consistent Answer
New Growth, New Gains
Yunqi Capital | Astribot Raises Hundreds of Millions in A++ Round to Accelerate Scale Deployment of Cable-Driven AI Robots
The Pioneer in Mass-Producing Cable-Driven AI Robots Continues to Evolve
Astribot Lands China's First Thousand-Unit Commercial Order, Accelerating AI Robot Deployment in Industry | Yunqi Capital
Partnering with SEER Robotics to Launch a New Phase of AI Robot "Industrial Intelligent Agent" Applications
Tens of Thousands Tune In: Good News From Yunqi's Robot Friends | Yunqi x WRC 2025
Innovation never ends.
Livestream Registration | Yunqi Capital x SEE Fund: World Robot Congress Themed Event — See You Tomorrow
On August 8, the **2025 World Robot Conference (WRC)** opened in Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area. As one of the largest and most influential events in the global robotics sector, this year's WRC is themed "Making Robots Smarter, Making Embodied Intelligence More Intelligent," bringing together **over 1,500 exhibits from more than 200 domestic and international robotics companies**, including 100 new products making their debut.
Opening Today: A Complete Guide to Yunqi Capital's Embodied Intelligence Portfolio | Yunqi Capital x World Robot Conference
A User-Friendly Guide to Robot "Face Blindness"
Livestream Countdown | Yunqi Capital x SEE Fund: World Robot Congress Special Event — See You in 2 Days
From August 8 to 12, the **2025 World Robot Conference (WRC)** will be held at Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area. As one of the largest and most influential events in the global robotics sector, this year's WRC will take "Making Robots Smarter, Making Embodied Intelligence More Intelligent" as its theme, bringing together **over 1,500 exhibits from more than 200 domestic and international robotics companies**, including 100 new products that will make their debut.
Coming Soon | Yunqi Capital X SEE Fund: World Robot Conference Special Event — You're Invited
Embodied Intelligence: The Future Is Already Here
Walking Through the Heat, Gathering Along the Way | Yunqi Capital Quarterly
Yunqi Capital Q2 Good News
Yunqi Capital x Tsinghua University E.E. | Exploring Embodied Intelligence in the Greater Bay Area
➤➤ On May 25, 2025, **"Tsinghua EEA · Industry Connect Afternoon Tea #012 — Exploring Embodied Intelligence in the Greater Bay Area"**, co-organized by Yunqi Capital, successfully concluded in Shenzhen. The event was hosted by the Tsinghua University Alumni Association Electronic Engineering Department Branch, the International Center for Advanced Technology Application Promotion (Shenzhen), and the Shenzhen Tsinghua University Alumni Association Electronic Engineering Department Branch. **Over 40 Tsinghua EEA alumni** deeply involved in embodied intelligence gathered in Shenzhen.
Making Robots More Human: Stardust Intelligence Unveils DuoCore Fast-Slow Coordination System | Yunqi Capital
Thinking and Cognition Like the Human Brain
Investing in people, hiring people too — we're looking for you | Yunqi AI Talent Call
Welcome to the chat.
Yunqi Capital Quarterly | Spring Winds Ask Nothing of the Traveler; We Chart Our Own Course
A Closer Look at Yunqi Capital's Recent Moves
Yunqi Capital | Astribot Raises Hundreds of Millions of RMB in Consecutive Series A and A+ Rounds, With Yunqi Capital Continuing to Invest
Accelerating the Industrialization of AI Robots
Mao Chengyu, Yunqi Capital: DeepSeek Accelerates AI Application Adoption — Where to Invest in AI in 2025? | Partners' Perspectives
More Challenges, More Possibilities
Five Embodied Intelligence Founders on Business Logic, Breaking Through Bottlenecks, and Differentiation Strategies | Yunqi Capital Practitioners --- *Note: This is a title/header translation. The full article content was not provided for translation. If you share the complete Chinese text, I can translate the entire piece following all specified guidelines.*
Chatting with Yunqi Capital, Astribot, Noematrix, Keenon Robotics, and RealMan Robotics
Yunqi Capital | Charting the Path to World Models: Astribot Partners with Robotics Foundation Model Unicorn Physical Intelligence
How Far Is the "GPT Moment" for Embodied AI?
Yunqi Capital Quarterly | We Are Stardust, Imagining the Universe
New Practices, New Breakthroughs, New Thinking for Summer and Fall
Investment, Technology, Commercialization — Where Is the "AI + Robotics" Wind Blowing? | Yunqi Capital Attent!on · Embodied Intelligence Recap
Unlocking a Future You Can Touch
Yunqi Capital | At a robotics conference watched by 250,000 people, which "people" stole the show?
Seeing a New Future for Robots
Today, We Invite You to Meet in the Future | Yunqi Capital x World Robot Conference
The First Drone Show of Autumn
China's Homegrown AI Robots Are Getting Wild... Playing Piano, Brewing Tea, Practicing Wing Chun, and Even Petting Cats? | Yunqi Capital
"Stardust Intelligence" Unveils Its First-Generation AI Robot
Yunqi Capital | Portfolio Company Astribot Raises Tens of Millions of Dollars in Pre-A Round, Accelerating Commercial Deployment of AI Robots
An AI Brain + Peak Operating Performance — the Future Is Drawing Near
Yunqi Research Select | Mid-Year AI Industry Review: Ten Hopes and Heartbreaks in the Year of Implementation
How Does the Balance Between Cost and Effectiveness Tip?
Yunqi Capital Attent!on Podcast | Founders Up and Down the Supply Chain: From Embodiment to Intelligence, How Is AI "Awakening" Robots?
Let's Talk About the Messy Reality of Deployment and Application Bottlenecks
Vol.05 Has AI "Woken Up" the Robots? A Look at the Many Applications and Bottlenecks of Embodied Intelligence
A Visual Measure of Our Distance from Robots | Yunqi Capital Attent!on · Embodied Intelligence Series
Continuous innovation, continuously drawing closer.
One Step Ahead: Unlocking the N Possibilities of Embodied Intelligence | Yunqi Gathering · Yunqi Capital Demo Day Now Open for Registration
When Embodied Intelligence Comes Knocking
Yunqi Capital Spring-Summer Issue | In the Bright Season, Innovation Grows with Wanwu Capital
AGI Practice, Business Breakthroughs, and Reflections This Spring and Summer
Looking Back at AI's "May": The Five Most Important Little Things | Attent!on Tech Notes
The future is already here — it's just not evenly distributed.
Hardcore New Releases: How Far Have Robots Evolved? | Yunqi Capital
Both highbrow and down-to-earth.
Yunqi Capital | Embarking on Embodied Intelligence: Angel-Round Portfolio Company Astribot Unveils Next-Generation AI Robot Astribot S1
AI Brain + Best-in-Class Operational Performance, Naturally Yours
How Close Are We to General-Purpose Robots? | Y·Robot × World Robot Conference
AGI + Robotics: When "Embodied Intelligence" Enters Reality
A Full View of the Yunqi Robot Family | "Y·Robot" X World Robot Conference
At the 2023 World Robot Conference: The Latest, Coolest, Most Practical Robots
