(Yicai) July 10 -- Meituan has invested in a second embodied artificial intelligence company in two months, showing the Chinese on-demand services giant’s confidence in the industry.

Galaxea closed two financing rounds yesterday and on July 8, raising a total of over USD100 million from investors including Meituan Longzhu and Meituan Corporate Venture, two of Meituan’s investment arms, according to data from corporate information platform Tianyancha.

X Square Robot, a Chinese developer of general-purpose embodied AI models powered by real-world data, announced in May that it had completed a Series A fundraiser led by Meituan’s unit Meituan Strategic Investment.

Meituan Longzhu was the first industrial fund established by Meituan. It is financed by Meituan and other companies, such as Tencent Holdings and New Hope Group.

The fund initially invested in the food and beverage consumption sector, but from 2021, it began paying more and more attention to technology and healthcare, particularly semiconductor, robotics, and autonomous driving companies. It has invested in renowned robotics firms Cornerstone Robotics and Unitree Robotics.

The company has long been bullish on embodied AI and made large investments, and has continuously tracked the development of Galaxea since 2023, said Wang Xinyu, a partner at Meituan Longzhu.

AI will greatly drive the development of robotics technology, and Meituan will keep an eye on startups in this field, Wang said during an earnings conference call in the fourth quarter of last year. In terms of investment, Meituan will enhance its focus on cutting-edge technologies, such as AI, drone delivery, and automated delivery vehicles, and related applications this year, he added.

Meituan Corporate Venture is Meituan’s venture capital arm, with funds mainly coming from the Beijing-based firm.

In terms of robotics investments, Meituan Corporate Ventures has a broader scope than Meituan Longzhu. Since 2021, it has invested in companies such as Pudu Robotics, Flexiv Robotics, Mech-Mind, Gausium Robotics, VisionNav Robotics, and Galbot. It funded Unitree Robotics twice.

Besides investing in third-party companies, Meituan also established its own robotics firm, Shenzhen Jique Technology, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Meituan Low-Altitude Logistics Technology last December. Jique manufactures intelligent unmanned aerial vehicles, researches and develops intelligent robots, and designs AI application software.

Editor: Futura Costaglione