(Yicai) July 2 -- JoyIn Technology, a Chinese startup that builds artificial intelligence-powered companion robots for the home, has pocketed CNY500 million (USD73.6 million) in a funding round led by fintech giant Ant Group. In the 18 months since being founded, JoyIn has raised CNY1 billion.

This round’s participants also included Geely Capital, the investment arm of automotive giant Geely Holding Group, online game developer 37 Interactive Entertainment, private equity firm Yuanhe Puhua, and existing shareholder Monolith Management, Suzhou-based JoyIn said today.

The proceeds will mainly go to researching and developing six core technologies, talent hiring, and global market expansion, helping JoyIn bring embodied AI home robots into real-world environments, it said.

Last year, JoyIn completed three angel funding rounds for a total of nearly CNY500 million (USD73.6 million), with key investors including IDG Capital and Eastern Bell Capital.

Founded in December 2024, the firm launched its home companion robot, the M1, at the World Intelligent Manufacturing Conference held in Nanjing last November. To date, JoyIn has received over 30,000 orders. Revenue jumped seven-fold in the first half from a year earlier, it said.

Alongside the completion of the latest fundraiser, JoyIn also unveiled its new embodied AI brand Zeroth and previewed two upcoming products aimed at future home uses -- the Jupiter full-size humanoid and the N1 home helper -- aiming to widen the use of embodied intelligence in domestic life.

With embodied AI developing rapidly, the industry is fast moving toward consumer-facing uses. Two days ago, leading Chinese developer Ubtech Robotics launched the U1, a lifelike humanoid series for emotional companionship. Four models are available, priced at as much as CNY990,000 (USD145,800) each.

A price tag of CNY100,000 to CNY200,000 is reasonable for bionic robots that can do housework, provide emotional support, and look highly realistic, Ubtech founder Zhou Jian said. Production costs and retail prices will fall as the user base expands, he noted.

Editor: Kim Taylor