(Yicai) March 10 -- Simplexity Robotics said the Chinese company has secured CNY2 billion (USD289.3 million) in less than half a year to train foundation models, research, develop, and iterate robots, data collection, and develop core algorithms, accelerating the large-scale application of its embodied intelligence technologies across multiple scenarios.

Investors in five fundraisers over the past six months included Tencent Holdings, Alibaba Group Holding, Vision Capital, Lanchi Ventures, HongShan Capital Group, Legend Capital, CAS Star, and Gaorong Ventures, Hangzhou-based Simplexity Robotics announced yesterday. The firm's valuation exceeded USD1 billion after the latest funding round.

Simplexity Robotics was set up by Chief Executive Jia Peng, Chairman Wang Kai, and Chief Operating Officer Wang Jiajia last July, with all three coming from Chinese electric vehicle startup Li Auto.

Simplexity Robotics adheres to a full-stack self-developed tech route, it said, adding that its LaST₀ base model solves the technical challenge of robots "thinking while responding quickly" in dynamic environments by integrating world understanding and prediction capabilities on the physical environment with a fast-slow dual-track thinking mechanism in the vision-language-action architecture.

Simplexity Robotics has proposed the ManualVLA ultra-long-range task model, aiming to enhance robots' planning and execution capabilities for complex tasks.

Regarding application scenarios, Simplexity Robotics said it follows a progressive iterative path from closed to semi-open and then to fully open scenarios, taking the lead in laying out closed scenarios, including factory workshops, supermarkets, and logistics.

Simplexity Robotics's first-generation robot has been produced in small batches, with a proof-of-concept test initiated. The company has completed its strategic layout in Beijing, Shanghai, and Suzhou.

Editor: Martin Kadiev