PokeBot
Category: Robotics / Embodied AI
Beijing-based embodied-AI startup building general-purpose household robots for tasks like cooking and clothes folding, founded by Tsinghua IIIS professor Xu Huazhe. PokeBot was founded in 2026. The company is led by Xu Huazhe (许华哲). Based in Beijing, China. Team size: 11-50. Total funding raised: $130M. Latest round: Pre-Seed. Key investors include Shunwei Capital, IDG Capital (经纬创投/Matrix Partners China), Yunqi Capital, Xiaomi Strategic Investment, Xinghaitu (Galaxea AI), Zhongding Capital, Jiukun Ventures, Junshan Capital, SEE Fund, Liepin Investment, Yuanno Capital, Honghui Fund.
- Founded
- 2026
- Headquarters
- Beijing, China
- Team size
- 11-50
- Total funding
- $130M
Value proposition
Develops general-purpose household robots that can autonomously perform complex real-world manipulation tasks (e.g., cooking mapo tofu from raw ingredients in nine minutes, clothes folding), positioning robot manipulation rather than locomotion as the core research battleground.
Products and solutions
General-purpose household robots for cooking and clothes folding, demonstration of autonomous mapo tofu cooking, built on World Action Model (WAM), full-chain real-robot reinforcement learning (RL), and high-quality real-world data (DATA).
Unique value
One of the few embodied-AI startups making robot manipulation (dexterous physical interaction with real objects) its primary research objective, backed by a top academic founder with China's first dedicated robot manipulation lab.
Target customer
Consumer households (home service robots); general-purpose embodied intelligence for domestic tasks.
Industries served
Consumer home robotics / household service robots, embodied AI / robot manipulation.
Technology advantage
Real-hardware training over simulation; World Action Model (WAM); full-chain real-robot reinforcement learning; high-quality real-world data pipeline; founder's deep academic pedigree in manipulation (100+ papers, CoRL Best System Paper).
How they differentiate
Focuses exclusively on robot manipulation (the hardest unsolved problem) rather than locomotion; uses real-hardware RL training instead of simulation; founded by a leading academic in manipulation with China's first dedicated manipulation lab (TEA Lab).
Main competitors
Galaxea AI (星海图, Xu's prior venture), DISCOVER Robotics, other Chinese embodied-AI household robot startups (e.g., Agibot, Unitree for locomotion).
Key partnerships
Xiaomi Strategic Investment (小米战投), Xinghaitu (Galaxea AI) as angel investor, Yunqi Capital, Shunwei Capital, IDG Capital (经纬创投).
Major milestones
Founded March 2026, Angel round (tens of millions USD) led by Yunqi Partners (late April 2026), released autonomous mapo tofu cooking demo (June 2026), Pre-A round of ~$100M+ co-led by Shunwei and IDG Capital (Aug 3, 2026), Liu Shuo (ex-Meituan drone exec) joined as first commercial partner (July 2026).
Market positioning
Early-stage but high-profile Chinese embodied-AI startup in the household robot segment, attracting top-tier investors (Shunwei, IDG/Matrix, Xiaomi) within months of founding.
Geographic focus
China (Beijing-based), targeting the domestic household robotics market.
About Xu Huazhe (许华哲)
Ex-Chief Scientist & Co-founder at Xinghaitu (Galaxea AI); Tenure-Track Assistant Professor & Doctoral Supervisor, Tsinghua University IIIS (Institute for Interdisciplinary Information Sciences, founded by Andrew Yao); PhD in Berkeley AI Research (BAIR) under Trevor Darrell; Postdoc at Stanford Vision & Learning Lab under Jiajun Wu; BS in EE from Tsinghua. Founded TEA Lab (China's first robot manipulation lab); RoboCook won CoRL 2023 Best System Paper.
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Official website: http://hxu.rocks/