Robots are really going crazy at the beginning of the new year

In 2024, there will be frequent good news in the robotics circle, and multiple billion-dollar financings will be bombarded in turn, which makes people have to sigh: our robots seem to be really "getting better"...

Nowadays, service robots are quietly changing our lives, especially in the field of cleaning. Cleaning robots have become synonymous with "niche luxury" in the smart era. However, fierce competition in the domestic market has forced many companies to turn their attention to overseas markets.

Recently, ZTE Development's artificial intelligence headquarters - Xiazhi Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Xiazhi Technology") officially announced the completion of the Pre-A+ round of financing invested by Ivy Capital. In the second half of 2023, the company has completed the investment from Yiyi Capital , Hongnuo Venture Capital, and Ocean Pine Capital jointly led tens of millions of yuan in Pre-A round financing. It is reported that the two rounds of financing amounted to nearly 100 million yuan, and the funds raised will be used to accelerate the research and development of commercial cleaning robot products, channel laying and the expansion of overseas markets.

In addition, at the beginning of the new year, "Hanyang Technology", which launched the first round of overseas financing for cleaning robots and raised hundreds of millions of dollars in financing in a year, seems to indicate that a new round of overseas expansion is coming. And being fully involved in overseas competition, can the smart cleaning track that "blooms outside the wall" be "fragrant outside the wall"?

Backed by ZTE, 2 rounds of financing in half a year

Xiazhi Technology was founded in Nanjing in 2021 by ZTE founder Hou Weigui. The company focuses on the layout of two major technical directions: "intelligent service robots" and "AI + 5G integration", hoping to serve various industries with continuous product innovation and technology iteration.

Following the Pre-A financing in October last year, in less than half a year, Xiazhi Technology continued its efforts and completed the Pre-A+ round of financing, with the two rounds of financing amounting to nearly 100 million yuan.

According to Qichacha information, after the completion of this round of financing, the number of shareholders of the company has increased to 13, with new shareholder Shanghai Ivy Capital ranking 9th with a shareholding ratio of 2.7027%.

The company's top four shareholders are all related to ZTE. Among them, ZTE Development Co., Ltd. is the largest shareholder, with a shareholding ratio of 31.2162%; the second shareholder is Hainan United Investment Partnership, whose executive partner Fang Rong joined ZTE in 1995 and is now a non-executive director of ZTE. He is also the legal person of Xiazhi Technology; Hou Weigui, the legendary founder of ZTE, and Shenzhen Zhongxing Weixantong Equipment Co., Ltd., which serves as the legal person, rank third and fourth among shareholders respectively.

Many people don’t know that ZTE is involved in the field of robotics, but ZTE has actually been involved in robotics for seven years.

In 2017, ZTE launched the intelligent customer service robot "Xiaoxing", which can provide users with interactive Q&A services in vertical fields;

In 2021, ZTE released the industry's first industrial AGV load-bearing platform ZXAGV_T260 with integrated 5G module;

In 2022, Xiazhi Technology launched the first multi-functional indoor cleaning robot Skywalker 50. The product has high-precision navigation and obstacle avoidance technology, and can perform three modes of floor washing, dust pushing and disinfection. It is suitable for shopping malls, hotels, office buildings, etc. Scenes

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As ZTE's artificial intelligence headquarters, Xiazhi Technology will undoubtedly fully benefit from the parent company's deep accumulation of technology and industrial resources.

Today, 5G communication technology is becoming a key infrastructure for the implementation of artificial intelligence products. Compared with previous communication technologies, 5G has the advantages of low latency and large bandwidth, and can better support high-definition image transmission, remote control and other functions of terminal equipment such as intelligent robots, improving the human-computer interaction experience. Therefore, ZTE’s 5G technology, which Xiazhi Technology relies on, will have a rare advantage in building commercial cleaning robot products.

And in recent years, ZTE has continued to extend its reach to the manufacturing side. On the one hand, it builds smart factories on its own, and on the other hand, it deeply binds with upstream and downstream enterprises in the industry chain. This has laid a solid foundation for Xiazhi Technology to achieve localized production of products overseas in the future. . At the same time, ZTE has been deeply involved in the global market for a long time and has established a complete marketing and service network overseas. Xiazhi Technology can use these channels to quickly achieve global coverage of its products.

It can be said that Xiazhi Technology, which is backed by ZTE, has a high starting point compared to other "start from scratch" peers.

Fighting hand to hand, roll upon roll

Consumer-level cleaning robots are undoubtedly still in the early stages of development compared to mature industrial robots.

According to data, the current penetration rate of the domestic cleaning robot market is less than 5%, and the retail volume and retail sales are expected to reach 7.24 million units and 12.9 billion yuan respectively. There is broad room for growth.

However, on the other hand, the seemingly bright future has caused many companies to rush in, and price wars are about to break out. The excessive emergence of "homogeneous" products has also made many people who were originally in a wait-and-see state have a "want to try" mentality. Finally dead", the willingness to pay did not increase significantly even at the low price of Involve.

Flowers bloom outside the wall, and the tide rises out of the sea

From the perspective of general trends, commercial cleaning robots can effectively solve the problem of labor shortage in the cleaning industry in the future amid challenges such as the aging of the population and difficulty in recruiting workers.

Compared with the fierce domestic competition, the market is in a state of oversupply, and the overseas market has high costs, high selling prices, and a lack of labor. The demand for commercial cleaning robots is more urgent and the willingness to buy is stronger. Therefore, going overseas can not only get rid of the domestic involution quagmire, but also achieve high sales and high profits.

In fact, the introduction of cleaning robots to the sea began a few years ago and has already occupied half of the country. Data shows that by the end of 2022, domestic sweeping robots have occupied more than 50% of the overseas market share, including 68% and 55% in the Southeast Asian and European markets.

And for many companies, going overseas is the best preparation for future listings. On the one hand, good overseas market performance will help attract higher amounts of financing; on the other hand, considerable shipments will also serve as an eye-catching "report card" and become a strong evidence for listing.

The expansion of cleaning robots overseas is driven by both the changes in the market environment and the business needs of enterprises themselves. The two interact with each other and move forward on both wheels, which has contributed to the upsurge of domestic brands "going abroad and going global."

write at the end

Although the opportunity is rare, commercial cleaning robots still face many challenges before they can successfully go overseas. An issue that needs urgent attention is localization strategy, that is, how to better integrate products into the local market.

Generally speaking, localization needs are mainly reflected in:

The first is the difference in application scenarios. For example, in places such as hotels and hospitals, different countries and regions have greatly different requirements for cleaning and hygiene standards, and parameter settings need to be adjusted accordingly. The second is the difference in language and cultural customs, even if there is no voice function. For robots, the functional design such as human-computer interaction interface still needs to take into account cultural differences, otherwise it will be difficult to be accepted by local users; third, there are differences in infrastructure conditions. The degree of infrastructure development in different countries or regions is uneven, and companies need to adapt to the local environment. Adjust the adaptability of core modules such as robot perception and planning.

No matter what industry you are in, it is difficult for products that cannot deeply understand market demand to continue to be popular in the global market. Only continuous innovation can achieve continued leadership.

There is no doubt that the introduction of commercial cleaning robots to overseas markets has become an irreversible trend. This is not only an inevitable choice for domestic enterprises in response to fierce competition in the domestic market, but also a rational layout that benefits from the vast space and cost advantages of overseas markets. Whether it is to solve the practical needs of labor shortages or to improve productivity and create more value, commercial cleaning robots play an important role.

Currently, the cleaning robot market is being reshaped. With technological advancement and rich application scenarios, the penetration rate of robot products will continue to surge, and the era of overseas 2.0 dividends may be coming.