Beijing-based Galaxea AI has closed a 2 billion yuan ($291 million) Series B+ round, pushing its valuation above 20 billion yuan ($2.9 billion). Nearly 20 investors participated.

The Details

Galaxea AI builds "embodied AI" systems: technology that lets machines perceive, reason and act in the physical world. Its core product is a Vision-Language-Action (VLA) model designed for manufacturing, logistics and commercial services.

Founded in 2023, the company's growth trajectory is steep.

In barely twelve months, Galaxea's price tag has quadrupled.

Lens Technology (300433.SZ), the consumer electronics manufacturer known for supplying Apple's glass components, is among the investors. Lens also serves as Galaxea's hardware and mass production partner, a signal that commercialization is on the agenda, not just research. State-backed funds joined the round as well.

The concentration problem

China's robotics investment is narrowing. A handful of top-tier firms absorb most of the capital while smaller players struggle to raise. Publicly traded robotics stocks have pulled back this year, making private rounds like Galaxea's even more significant.

The company is now valued at roughly the same level Unitree was at its Hong Kong IPO last month. The difference: Unitree has shipped products to paying customers. Galaxea is still scaling from pilot deployments to mass production.

With nearly $500 million raised in total and Lens Technology handling hardware, the question is execution speed. China's embodied AI race has no shortage of funding. It has a shortage of products that work outside the lab.

Sources: DealStreet Asia, Caixin Global, Caproasia

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