Haivivi

Haivivi (跃然创新) is a Beijing-based AI toy company founded by Li Yong, a former Tmall Genie executive who helped scale that smart speaker from zero to 30 million units . The company pivoted from educational hardware to AI plush toys about 18 months before its breakout product launch, with early backing from BlueRun Ventures and a personal investment from HKUST engineering dean Gao Bingqiang during its transition .

Haivivi's defining product is BubblePal, a ¥399 smart pendant that hangs on stuffed animals and uses large language models to converse with children aged 3–6—answering questions, telling stories, and prompting them to drink water . It launched in June 2024 as what the company calls the first AI toy to deploy frontier models, and reportedly hit monthly revenue exceeding ¥10 million shortly after, with 200,000 units shipped within its first year . In August 2025, Haivivi followed with CocoMate, billed as the first end-to-end voice model-powered toy series .

The company raised over $10 million in cumulative funding from a roster including Sequoia China Seed Fund, Joy Capital, Huashan Capital, and CMB International, before closing a ¥200 million Series A in August 2025 led by CICC Capital, Sequoia China, Huashan Capital, and Joy Capital . BlueRun Ventures, which has backed Haivivi since its angel round, points to Li Yong's mass-manufacturing pedigree as key: his team moved fast on supply chain and channel integration once GPT-3.5 made AI toys viable .