Hundreds of millions of yuan in financing! Cleaning robots are "blooming outside the wall" and going overseas?

Robots The beginning of the year was really crazy

In 2024, the robot industry has received a lot of good news, with multiple billion-yuan financings bombarding one after another, which makes people sigh: our robots seem to have really "gotten better"...

Nowadays, service robots are quietly changing our lives, especially in the cleaning field. Cleaning robots have become synonymous with "niche luxury" in the intelligent era. However, the fierce competition in the domestic market has forced many companies to turn their attention to overseas markets.

Recently, the headquarters of ZTE's artificial intelligence, Xiazhi Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Xiazhi Technology"), officially announced the completion of the Pre-A+ round of financing invested by Ivy Capital. In the second half of 2023, the company has completed a Pre-A round of financing of tens of millions of yuan jointly led by Easy Investment, Hongnuo Venture Capital, and Haisong Capital. It is reported that the two rounds of financing amounted to nearly 100 million yuan, and the funds raised will be used to accelerate the development of commercial cleaning robot products, channel laying, and overseas market expansion.

In addition, at the beginning of the new year, Hanyang Technology fired the first shot of overseas financing for cleaning robots, and received hundreds of millions of yuan in financing in one year, which seems to indicate that a new round of overseas expansion is coming. And being fully involved in overseas competition, can the smart cleaning track, which is "blooming outside the wall", still be "fragrant outside the wall"?

Backed by ZTE, raised 2 rounds of financing in half a year

Xiazhi Technology was founded in Nanjing in 2021 by Hou Weigui, the founder of ZTE Corporation. The company focuses on two major technical directions: "intelligent service robots" and "AI+5G integration", hoping to serve thousands of industries through continuous product innovation and technology iteration.

Following the Pre-A financing in October last year, less than half a year later, Xiazhi Technology continued to make efforts and completed the Prea-A+ round of financing, with the two rounds of financing amounting to nearly 100 million yuan.

According to Qichacha information, after the completion of this round of financing, the number of the company's shareholders increased to 13, and the new shareholder Shanghai Ivy Capital ranked 9th with a shareholding ratio of 2.7027%.

The top four shareholders of the company are all related to ZTE. Among them, ZTE Development Co., Ltd. is the largest shareholder, holding 31.2162% of the shares; the second largest shareholder is Hainan United Investment Partnership, whose executive partner Fang Rong joined ZTE in 1995 and is now both a non-executive director of ZTE and the legal representative of Xiazhi Technology; Hou Weigui, the founder of ZTE Legend, and Shenzhen ZTE Weixiantong Equipment Co., Ltd., of which he is the legal representative, are ranked third and fourth among shareholders respectively.

Many people don’t know that ZTE is involved in the field of robotics, but ZTE has actually been involved in the robotics industry for 7 years.

In 2017, ZTE launched the intelligent customer service robot "Xiaoxing", which can provide users with interactive question-and-answer services in vertical fields;

In 2021, ZTE released the industry's first industrial AGV load-carrying platform, the ZXAGV_T260, which integrates a 5G module;

In 2022, Xiazhi Technology launched the first multi-functional indoor cleaning robot Skywalker 50. The product has high-precision navigation and obstacle avoidance technology, and can perform three modes: floor washing, dust removal and disinfection. It is suitable for a variety of scenarios such as shopping malls, hotels, office buildings, etc.

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As the headquarters of ZTE's artificial intelligence, Xiazhi Technology will undoubtedly benefit fully from the parent company's profound accumulation in technology, industrial resources and other aspects.

Today, 5G communication technology is becoming a key infrastructure for the implementation of artificial intelligence products. Compared with previous communication technologies, 5G has advantages such as low latency and large bandwidth, which can better support high-definition image transmission, remote control and other functions of terminal devices such as intelligent robots , and enhance the human-computer interaction experience. Therefore, the ZTE 5G technology relied on by Xiazhi Technology will have a rare advantage in creating commercial cleaning robot products.

In recent years, ZTE has continued to extend its reach to the manufacturing end, building its own smart factories on the one hand, and deeply binding with upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain on the other hand, which has laid a solid foundation for Xiazhi Technology to realize localized production of products overseas in the future. At the same time, ZTE has been deeply involved in the global market for a long time and has established a complete marketing and service network overseas. Xiazhi Technology can use these channels to quickly achieve global coverage of its products.

It can be said that Xiazhi Technology, backed by ZTE, has a high starting point compared to its other peers who "started from scratch".

Close combat, volume upon volume

Compared with mature industrial robots , consumer-grade cleaning robots are undoubtedly still in the early stages of development.

According to data, the current penetration rate of the domestic cleaning robot market is less than 5%, and the retail volume and retail sales are expected to reach 7.24 million units and 12.9 billion yuan respectively, leaving ample room for growth.

On the other hand, the seemingly bright future has led to a large number of companies flocking in, and a price war is imminent. The excessive emergence of "homogeneous" products has also discouraged many people who were already on the sidelines, feeling that "the desire to try has finally died." Even at the low prices created by internal circulation, the willingness to pay has not increased significantly.

Flowers bloom outside the wall, the tide rises to go out to sea

From the big trend point of view, commercial cleaning robots can effectively solve the problem of labor shortage in the cleaning industry in the future under the challenges of an aging population and difficulty in recruiting workers.

Compared with the fierce competition in China, where the market is in a state of oversupply, the overseas market has high production costs, high prices, and a shortage of labor. The demand for commercial cleaning robots is more urgent, and the willingness to buy is stronger. Therefore, going overseas can not only get rid of the domestic quagmire of internal competition, but also achieve high sales and high profits.

In fact, the overseas sales of cleaning robots started several years ago and have already occupied half of the market. Data shows that by the end of 2022, domestic sweeping robots have occupied more than 50% of the overseas market share, with the market share in Southeast Asia and Europe reaching 68% and 55% respectively.

And for many companies, going overseas is the best preparation for future listing. On the one hand, good overseas market performance will help attract higher amounts of financing; on the other hand, considerable shipments will also serve as a brilliant "report card" and become a strong proof of listing.

The overseas expansion of cleaning robots is driven by both changes in the market environment and the business needs of the companies themselves. The interaction and development of the two have contributed to the trend of domestic brands "going abroad and into the world."

Last words

Despite the rare opportunities, commercial cleaning robots still face many challenges in successfully going overseas. One issue that needs urgent attention is the localization strategy, that is, how to better integrate the product into the local market.

Generally speaking, localization needs are mainly reflected in:

The first is the difference in application scenarios. For example, in places such as hotels and hospitals, different countries and regions have great differences in the requirements for cleaning and hygiene standards, and parameter settings need to be adjusted accordingly. The second is the difference in language and cultural customs. Even for robots without voice functions, the design of functions such as human-computer interaction interfaces still needs to take into account cultural differences, otherwise it will be difficult for local users to accept them. The third is the difference in infrastructure conditions. The level of infrastructure development in different countries or regions varies. Companies need to adjust the adaptability of core modules such as robot perception and planning according to the local environment.

No matter what industry you are in, products that fail to deeply understand market demand will find it difficult to remain popular in the global market. Only continuous innovation can ensure sustained leadership.

There is no doubt that the export of commercial cleaning robots has become an irreversible trend. This is not only an inevitable choice for domestic enterprises to cope with the fierce competition in the domestic market, but also a rational layout that benefits from the vast space and cost advantages of the overseas market. Whether it is to solve the actual needs of labor shortage or to improve productivity and create more value, commercial cleaning robots play an important role.

Currently, the cleaning robot market is being reshaped. With technological advancement and the enrichment of application scenarios, the penetration rate of robot products will continue to soar, and the era of going overseas 2.0 dividends may be coming.