Robot Era raises $147M as Chinese state funds pile into embodied AI

What's the deal? Robot Era, a Beijing-based embodied AI company, has raised 1 billion CNY (roughly $147 million) in a late-stage round led by Chengtong Fund, a state-owned capital operator under China's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. State backers including Jiangxi State Holding, Guoyuan EquityDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Yufu Zhongxin Fund, and Hangzhou CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → joined, with Hony CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, CICC Renault, Ubiquant Venture, and others also participating.

Why now? The round caps a fast fundraising streak. Robot Era pulled in about 2.5 billion CNY over two months, following a 1 billion CNY strategic round in March 2026 that pushed its valuation past 10 billion CNY.

What's the endgame? Founded in 2023 out of Tsinghua University, Robot Era builds humanoid robots and dexterous hands using an in-house "data-brain-control-hand-body" full-stack approach. Its products include the L7 bipedal humanoid, the Q5 wheeled service robot, and the XHAND dexterous hand line.

By the numbers: The raise sits in the 95th percentile for late-stage rounds among Chinese companies in its industry, based on a sample of 200 deals — placing it among the larger bets in the sector.

What could go wrong? Embodied AI remains capital-intensive and unproven at scale. Robot Era's edge rests on turning pilot deployments into repeatable revenue, and the weight of state and industrial money raises expectations that commercial results will follow.

The signal: The round shows capital shifting from concept to commercialisation in embodied AI, with state funds and industrial investors — more than 20 by the company's count — betting on firms with real-world traction rather than technical narratives alone.

Read more: 36Kr

Image credit: K3NMA