- Former Alibaba executive leads startup developing high-degree-of-freedom robotic manipulation systems
- Funding will accelerate product iteration, team growth, and real-world application deployment
Botyard (伯牙智能), a Suzhou-based robotics startup specializing in dexterous hands and manipulation systems, has raised several tens of millions of yuan in an angel financing round to advance its high-degree-of-freedom robotic technologies toward industrial deployment.
Jiangsu Qianrong Investment led the round, with participation from Suzhou Venture Capital Group and Beijing-based Vista Investment.
Another Alibaba alumnus
The company said the funds will support iteration of its flagship products, expansion of hardware and software teams, and development of real-world datasets and solution platforms.
Founded in August 2024, Botyard is led by CEO Liu Xin, a former technical director at Alibaba and former product head at Alibaba’s autotech affiliate Banma Intelligence, as well as former tech executive at EV maker Nio’s Onvo sub-brand.
Liu has extensive experience in integrated hardware-software product development and management, according to media reports.
The world’s ‘first’ hybrid system
The company’s flagship “Gaoshan” S1 dexterous hand uses what it calls the world’s first commercial hybrid drive system, combining tendon-driven, gear-direct, and screw-lever mechanisms.
It integrates proprietary flexible tendon modules that support high-frequency micro-neural-network force control and multi-module calibration.
As part of Botyard’s full-stack “Tianqin” dexterous manipulation platform, the S1 can work with upper-body robotic systems and teleoperation exoskeletons, serving research, industrial manufacturing, specialized operations, and elderly care scenarios.
Botyard has built a full-chain technology stack covering kinematics, dynamics, and decision-making, merging classical control, deep reinforcement learning, and vision-language-action models.
The approach balances generalization capability with task execution precision.
On par with global benchmarks?
Unlike traditional rigid robotic arms, Botyard relies primarily on tendon-based hybrid actuation. The soft nature of the cables allows safer, more compliant human-robot interaction.
The company said its products match or exceed global benchmarks, including industry leader Shadow Hand, in core metrics such as dexterity, motion speed, and weight, with motion speed reportedly tripled.
The foundational technology for embodied intelligence is reaching an inflection point, with dexterous hands moving from lab validation to industrial adoption, Jiangsu Qianrong Investment, the lead backer, said in a press release.
“Botyard addresses the final ‘last centimeter’ gap in embodied intelligence,” the investor added.
According to a survey by GGII, an industry-focused market researcher, the dexterous hand sector in China is growing rapidly. Sales reached about 19,200 units in 2025 and are projected to hit 70,200 units in 2026, with analysts forecasting the segment could surpass 430,000 units by 2030, GGII said.
