- Investors including Geely Capital, Fortune Capital and Shenzhen Capital Group back the latest round
- Startup plans to expand development of its Kairos world model and accelerate commercial deployments
Embodied AI startup Ace Robotics (大晓机器人) has completed an angel+ funding round backed by a syndicate of big-name investors.
They include Geely Capital, Fortune Capital, Shenzhen Capital Group, Shanghai Science and Technology Investment, MetaX, Sharewin Investment, Fosun RZ Capital, TH Capital, Shanghai Lingang New Area Science and Technology Innovation Industry Equity Investment Fund and Yuzi Zhangquan.
Existing shareholder SenseTime-affiliated SenseCapital also participated in the round. The company said it has raised several hundred million dollars in total during the first half of 2026.
Earlier renowned shareholders include Qiming Venture Parnters and Ant Group.
The new capital will be used to advance development of its proprietary Kairos world model, particularly in large-scale embodied training and edge-device control, while supporting commercial deployments across retail, security inspection, tourism and hospitality.
More brain, less brawn
The financing comes as China’s embodied AI sector evolves beyond a race to build humanoid robots.
Increasingly, competition is shifting toward capabilities spanning data collection, embodied foundation models, world models and real-world deployment, as investors place growing emphasis on the intelligence powering robots rather than their physical form.
“Embodied intelligence is the next era of AI, and the most powerful brain built on world models is the key to unlocking that era,” Chairman Wang Xiaogang said.
“Ace Robotics will continue to focus on foundational innovation and transform embodied AI technologies into productive forces that can drive industry progress.”
Founded in July 2025 to develop world models and integrated hardware-software solutions, Shanghai-based Ace Robotics has emerged as one of a growing number of startups betting that intelligent software, rather than robotic hardware alone, will define the next phase of embodied AI.
Understanding the world better
Its Kairos 3.0 world model, released in December 2025, introduced what the company described as the world’s first unified architecture combining understanding, generation and prediction.
In March, Ace Robotics said it achieved the first edge deployment of a world model capable of controlling physical robots in real time, enabling them to perform complex, long-horizon tasks such as preparing breakfast, completing household chores and watering plants.
The company said the model can also address long-standing challenges in embodied AI, including liquid interaction and manipulation of flexible objects.
Compatible with different platforms
Its “one brain, multiple bodies” architecture is designed to operate across robotic hands, humanoid robots, robotic arms and other hardware platforms from different manufacturers.
Earlier this month, Ace Robotics partnered with the Chinese University of Hong Kong and AI-focused Shenzhen Loop Area Institute to launch Kairos-HomeWorld, a framework capable of generating fully interactive 3D household environments.
The system can create complete home scenes with coherent structures, physical realism and functional layouts from a single prompt, according to the company.
Showcases at upcoming WAIC
Ace Robotics plans to unveil additional technologies and commercial offerings at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai next month, including updates to Kairos 3.0, a new embodied foundation model, large-scale data collection solutions and integrated products for the retail and hospitality sectors.
The company maintains close ties with SenseTime, which incubated Ace Robotics under its “1+X” strategy for spinning out specialized AI ventures.
Wang, a SenseTime co-founder and executive director, serves as chairman of Ace Robotics, while former SenseCapital executive and AI scientist Tao Dacheng is the company’s chief scientist.
