Ant Group in Hangzhou Invests in a Tencent-Backed Embodied AI Company
Ant Group Invests in Tencent-Affiliated Embodied Intelligence Startup
Major Funding Update
Shenzhen-based Stardust Intelligence has just announced the completion of its A++ round financing, valued at several hundred million RMB.
In a noteworthy move, Ant Group once again appears on the shareholder list of this Tencent-backed startup.
Following this round, Stardust Intelligence has achieved a valuation of over 2 billion RMB, solidifying its position in the embodied AI startup sector.
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Round Details
- Co-lead investors: Guoke Investment and Ant Group
- Additional participation: Existing investor JinQiu Fund, increasing its stake
- Primary fund usage:
- R&D talent recruitment
- Large-scale manufacturing preparation for rope-driven robot bodies
- Multi-scenario solution development
- Industrialization capability enhancement
🔹 This marks the fourth financing round in 2024 for Stardust Intelligence.
🔹 April 2024: Completion of A and A+ rounds (hundreds of millions RMB) led by JinQiu Fund and Ant Group.
🔹 July 2023: Pre-A round (tens of millions USD) led by Matrix Partners China.
📈 Timeline: From Pre-A to A++ in just 1.5 years.
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Rope-Driven AI Robots: A Unique Product Path
Founding and Vision
Founded December 2022, Stardust Intelligence focuses on rope-driven humanoid AI robots — a distinct alternative to traditional rigid designs.
Traditional Rigid Robots
- Structure: Metal links, joints, reducers
- Strengths: High load-bearing capacity (ideal for welding, lifting)
- Limitations: Low flexibility; suboptimal for adaptive, fine-motion tasks
Rope-Driven Robots
- Mechanics: Flexible rope + winch motor system
- Motion controlled by tightening or loosening ropes, adjusting tension dynamically
- Analogy: Like human tendons, not bones
- Advantages:
- Low friction, high responsiveness
- Continuous force-domain control
- Reduced gear backlash and friction losses
- Elasticity adds impact cushioning for increased safety
Real-World Suitability
These robots excel in human-interactive environments, especially home and commercial scenarios, thanks to:
- Human-like motion
- Fast dynamic responses
- Safe interactions with people and surroundings
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Full-Stack Embodied Intelligence Platform
Product Highlights
Leveraging its rope-drive technology, Stardust developed an integrated hardware + teleoperation + AI model platform.
Astribot S1
Debuted last year with human-level dexterity and speed — performing tasks like:
- Folding clothes
- Practicing Wing Chun
- Feeding cats
- Cooking stir-fry
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October Product Launches
- Astribot S1-U: Half-body commercial robot
- Super long-distance teleoperation system: Operates across countries and provinces
- DuoCore full-body VLA model: Enhanced for commercial service scenarios
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Commercialization Milestones
- Partnership with Jinma Amusement for next-gen entertainment robots
- Opening of "Robot MART" in Zhongshan — world’s first fully autonomous rope-driven AI robot retail store
- Functions: Making snacks and drinks for tourists
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Industry Ecosystem Support
AiToEarn官网 is an emerging open-source AI content monetization platform:
- AI-generated content tools
- Multi-platform publishing (Douyin, Kwai, WeChat, Bilibili, Xiaohongshu, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, YouTube, Pinterest, X/Twitter)
- Analytics and model ranking
- Supports AI startups like Stardust in marketing, outreach, and cross-channel engagement
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Expanding Into Industrial Applications
- September: Partnership with SEER Intelligent (world’s largest robot controller manufacturer)
- Collaborations with ByteDance, Tencent, Baidu, CCTV, JD.com
- Deployment in scientific research, tourism, service, and logistics
- Thousands of accumulated orders
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Production Capability Breakthrough
- June 2024: Achieved stable mass production of rope-driven robots over consecutive months
- Strengthens technical maturity and commercial readiness
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Founding Team Background
Origin: Core team from Tencent Robotics X Lab
Lai Jie (CEO & Founder)
- 16 years in robotics R&D
- Academic path: Xi’an University of Electronic Science & Technology → Master’s at Wuyi University
- Former Assistant Researcher at Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- Industry roles: Head of Xiaodu Robots at Baidu → First employee of Tencent Robotics X Lab
- Led development of wheel-leg robot Ollie
Dai Yuan (Co-founder)
- Bachelor’s: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Ph.D.: UCLA
- Joined Tencent Robotics X in 2018
Team Expertise: Alumni of Tencent, Google, UBTECH, Baidu, and Huawei — combining technical and business acumen to accelerate deployment.
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CEO's Perspective on Future Challenges
> Large-scale deployment in open environments is the true test of a robot’s capabilities and engineering systems. We hope that in the coming years, AI robots can truly enter the real world and become stable, reliable nodes of the new productive forces.
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Bridging Innovation and Monetization
Platforms like AiToEarn play a pivotal role in connecting breakthrough technologies to sustainable revenue, by:
- Enabling AI-powered content generation
- Publishing across major channels
- Providing analytics and performance insights
Such ecosystems can be essential for companies like Stardust Intelligence, facilitating the journey from cutting-edge robotics to scalable commercial success.
