Ex-DJI engineer's tactile sensor startup Moxian raises $1.49M
What's the deal? Moxian TechnologyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Dongguan-based maker of flexible tactile sensors and data acquisition equipment, has raised US$1.38M (roughly $1.49 million) in a late-stage round. Investors include Zibianliang Robot and Songshan Lake Industrial Investment, with existing shareholder Clear Water Bay Fund increasing its stake.
Who's behind it? The company is led by Kuang Zheng, a former sensor engineer at drone maker DJI. He founded Moxian in August 2021 after acting on a suggestion from his tutor, Li Zexiang, to pursue a supply problem he had spotted in hardware development.
What it does: Moxian is one of the earliest Chinese companies to work on the research and industrialisation of flexible tactile sensors. It starts from flexible pressure-sensing materials and integrates materials, structures, circuits, and algorithms into products used in consumer electronics, smart homes, and robots.
What's the product? The startup is extending from robot tactile sensors into data acquisition equipment. It will spend the fresh capital on research and development of a new generation of data acquisition gloves, supply chain optimisation, and building mass production capacity.
Why now? Kuang found that most suppliers of electronic skin sensors offered only test equipment rather than mass-produced, standardised products, making it hard to scale consumer applications. "Why is tactile sense so important, but there have been no large-scale products emerging?" he recalled asking.
By the numbers: This is Moxian's fifth round in five years. Earlier backers include Damai Venture CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Shenzhen Investment HoldingsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and the Beijing Robot Industry Development Investment FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
The signal: At about $1.49 million, the round sits in the lower band for its category, but the roster of industrial and government-linked investors points to sustained Chinese interest in tactile sensing as a building block for robotics and embodied intelligence.
Read more: eu.36kr.com
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
