Former Alibaba researcher Junyang Lin announces Pragmatik Labs
What's the deal? Former Alibaba researcher Junyang LinDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → announced that he had started a new AI company, confirming The Information's earlier reports.
In a post on X, Lin said his Shanghai-based startup, Pragmatik Labs, is focusing on “next-generation agents across digital and physical worlds.”
The backing: Lin said Chinese venture capital firms Gaorong Ventures and HongShanDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → led the funding round, with Tencent also participating. The round valued the startup at about $2 billion, The Information reported in June.
The company: This is the first time Lin has shared publicly about his startup. Pragmatik's website says it is building digital AI agents for knowledge work as well as physical AI agents that enable robots to perform real-world tasks.
Why it matters: The Information first reported in May that Lin was in talks to raise money for the startup. Since Lin left Alibaba in March 2026, numerous new AI research startups have emerged in China, many working on world models — AI systems that can understand and simulate the physical world. Pragmatik stands out because of Lin's track record with Qwen models at Alibaba.
Read more: The Information · X · Pragmatik Labs
Image credit: Pragmatik Labs
