(Yicai) Jan. 16 -- An investment firm under e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding and Chengdu High-tech Ceyuan Capital have become shareholders in RobotEra Technology, a Tsinghua University-affiliated startup that is developing embodied artificial intelligence and humanoid robots.

After the investment from Haoyue Enterprise Management and High-tech Ceyuan, RobotEra’s registered capital increased to nearly CNY11 million from around CNY8.8 million (USD1.5 million from USD1.2 million), according to data from corporate information site Qichacha.

Founded in August 2023, RobotEra was incubated by Tsinghua's Institute for Interdisciplinary Information Sciences and is the only android maker in which the prestigious university owns a stake, according to its website.

Last October, Beijing-based RobotEra secured nearly CNY300 million (USD41 million) from a Pre-A financing round led by Crystal Stream Capital, Vision Plus Capital, and Alibaba.

Alibaba has been expanding its presence in cutting-edge technology sectors, including robotics, AI, and automation. The Hangzhou-based firm has also invested in other robotics firms, including Zhuqi Dynamics, as well as Baichuan AI, Moonshot AI, MiniMax, and Zhipu AI.

High-tech Ceyuan is a venture capital firm mainly focused on investing in startups in the fields of AI, machine learning, and deep learning.

Editor: Martin Kadiev