Current Path：RobotHOT Briefs DeepSeek to lead funding in robotics AI startup Winverse AI

DeepSeek to lead funding in robotics AI startup Winverse AI

2026-10-14 Category: Briefs Comments(0)

DeepSeek plans to lead a funding round of tens of millions of dollars in robotics AI company Winverse AI, people familiar with the matter said. Meituan’s Longzhu Capital and others have also committed, valuing Winverse at about $400 million (2.7 billion yuan). The deal is not final and details could change.

If completed, it would be one of DeepSeek’s largest startup investments since its 2023 founding. DeepSeek previously invested in Unitree Robotics, holding 0.2308%, or 933,399 shares, to co-develop embodied intelligence models.

Founded in 2026, Winverse focuses on robot AI models. Founder Hu Han earned a bachelor’s degree from Tsinghua in 2008 and a PhD there in 2014. He was previously a Tencent Distinguished Scientist leading Hunyuan vision-language and embodied foundation model teams, and worked at Microsoft Research Asia and Baidu.

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Briefs

  • ACE Robotics, PetroChina Shanghai Sales unit partner on embodied AI convenience store pilot

    ACE Robotics and PetroChina Shanghai Sales Company have formed a strategic partnership to launch a pilot fully closed-loop embodied AI robot project in a gas station convenience store, the companies said.

    The partners will combine PetroChina Shanghai Sales' digital platform, supply chain system and offline convenience store network with ACE Robotics' capabilities in the Kaiwu world model, robot hardware and embodied intelligence technology. They aim to explore a four-in-one embodied retail co-creation model—"scenarios set the tasks, platforms coordinate, models drive, and robots execute"—and build a warehouse-store integrated smart retail paradigm for real business scenarios.

  • Jiangte Electric to invest 100 mln yuan in robot startup Vita Dynamics

    Jiangte Electric (002176.SZ) said it plans to invest 100 million yuan alongside affiliated investors in Vita Dynamics' Pre-A+++ funding round, with a total capital increase of 300 million yuan. The affiliated investors will contribute 200 million yuan. The deal gives Vita Dynamics a pre-money valuation of 3 billion yuan. After the capital increase, Jiangte Electric and the affiliated investors are expected to hold 3.0303% and 6.0606%, respectively. Jiangte also said it has started joint development of dexterous hand motors and key components with Vita Dynamics, and the products are planned to be supplied to third-party robot OEMs.

  • DeepSeek to lead funding in robotics AI startup Winverse AI

    DeepSeek plans to lead a funding round of tens of millions of dollars in robotics AI company Winverse AI, people familiar with the matter said. Meituan's Longzhu Capital and others have also committed, valuing Winverse at about $400 million (2.7 billion yuan). The deal is not final and details could change. If completed, it would be one of DeepSeek's largest startup investments since its 2023 founding. DeepSeek previously invested in Unitree Robotics, holding 0.2308%, or 933,399 shares, to co-develop embodied intelligence models. Founded in 2026, Winverse focuses on robot AI models. Founder Hu Han earned a bachelor's degree from Tsinghua in 2008 and a PhD there in 2014. He was previously a Tencent Distinguished Scientist leading Hunyuan vision-language and embodied foundation model teams, and worked at Microsoft Research Asia and Baidu.

  • D-Robotics debuts at CIIF with full-stack AI for industrial robots

    D-Robotics made its debut at the 26th China International Industry Fair (CIIF), which opened at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai) on Oct. 12, showcasing full-stack AI capabilities for visual inspection, industrial data collection and industrial embodied intelligence. The company presented its Sunrise intelligent computing chips, RDK robot developer kits and RoboGo software platform. For industrial customers, D-Robotics combines edge computing, supporting algorithms and cloud-based development tools.

  • NTU Singapore team wins IROS 2026 legged robot challenge with GENISOM AI M1

    A team from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore won the IROS 2026 Legged Robot Challenge, using GENISOM AI's quadruped robot Tongchui M1, the event concluded at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh. During the event, the M1 achieved fully autonomous operation throughout the entire course for the first time. It autonomously perceived the arena environment, dynamically planned its route to complete autonomous navigation, and after reaching the target position autonomously drove its robotic arm to carry out manipulation tasks. The whole process ran fully autonomously, without manual remote-control intervention.

  • Unitree Founder: Embodied AI's "ChatGPT Moment" Could Come Within One to Two Years

    At the 2026 China International Industry Fair, Wang Xingxing, founder of Unitree Robotics, said that with breakthroughs in models such as GPT-6, the tipping point for embodied intelligence—its "ChatGPT moment"—could arrive "in as soon as one or two years." He also predicted that next year's GPT-7 may "directly crack the embodied intelligence problem."

  • China's AGIBOT partners with over 20 universities on embodied AI

    AGIBOT, a Chinese humanoid robotics company, said it has formed initial partnerships with more than 20 Chinese universities under its "Yuansheng Ecosystem Development Plan," including Peking University, Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University, South China University of Technology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Southeast University and Sun Yat-sen University. The partners will jointly build a platform to integrate industry and education in embodied AI, combining curriculum development, joint research and practical training, to better align cutting-edge industrial technology with university talent development. AGIBOT will deploy more than 1,000 embodied AI devices across its full product lineup, including wheeled, half-size and full-size humanoid robots from its Jingling, Lingxi and Yuanzheng series, as well as Kutuo quadruped robots. It will also provide its AIMA development platform as a complete toolset for systematic university teaching and students' independent research and development. Total investment will reach 200 million yuan, the company said.

  • Ola Dimensions raises several hundred million yuan in angel-plus round

    Ola Dimensions, a Chinese startup focused on home embodied intelligence, said it has completed an angel-plus funding round worth several hundred million yuan. The round was co-invested by new and existing shareholders including Chengyuanxiang Fund, Xinneng Venture Capital, Xizhou International, Topband and Hony Capital. Founded in March 2026, Ola Dimensions aims to develop deployable embodied intelligence for the home and build home robots that can learn and grow, the company said. Its founder, Zhou Shunbo, is a Huawei "Genius Youth" recruit in robotics.
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