- Hangzhou startup secures third funding round this year for embodied AI systems
- Capital flows into low-data, high-generalization robot models
Five Ages (中科第五纪), an AI startup in Zhejiang, has raised several hundred million yuan in a Series A financing round, as investors bet big on a new generation of robotics companies focused on “world models” and low-sample learning.
The round was led by Fortera Capital, with participation from a consortium of backers including Shanghai Semiconductor Industry Investment Fund, Guoke Capital Management and Hongruida. Existing investor Zhuoyuan Capital also increased its stake.
The financing marks the company’s third funding round in 2026. Five Ages said proceeds will be used to further develop its end-to-end ultra-low-sample AI models and world models, scale robot production and accelerate global commercialization.
The company previously completed Pre-Series A and Pre-Series A+ rounds in February, raising several hundred million yuan combined.
Alternatives to data-heavy methods
Founded in September 2024 and headquartered in Hangzhou, Five Ages develops embodied AI systems centered on its FAM-series robotic manipulation models, which the company says allow robots to learn complex tasks from only a small number of demonstrations.
The startup has also built its own embodied world model, BridgeV2W, alongside a human-in-the-loop reinforcement learning framework designed around prediction, risk avoidance and adaptive learning.
Investor interest in world-model-based embodied AI has accelerated in recent months as startups pursue alternatives to data-intensive robotics training approaches.
Earlier this year, embodied AI company Anyverse Dynamics (无界动力), which focuses on world models and reinforcement learning, raised more than $200 million in angel funding led by Envision Group and the Beijing Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund.
Growing interest in low-sample training
Other closely watched startups including Galaxea AI (星海图) and Spirit AI (千寻智能) have also prioritized world-model architectures, highlighting a broader shift in investor attention toward robotics systems requiring fewer training samples and offering stronger generalization capabilities.
Five Ages said it has recently secured overseas orders worth several hundred million yuan from multiple major international companies, although it did not disclose customer identities or contract details.
The company’s wheeled dual-arm robots have already been deployed in logistics, industrial flexible manufacturing lines and energy-sector inspection operations, according to the firm. It is also working with state-owned customers including Sinopec.
In April, Five Ages said its latest world model, FlowWAM, topped the overall rankings on the WorldArena global benchmark leaderboard.
