Kinetix AI

Robotics · Embodied AI · China Tech

Funding

Kinetix AI raises $74.5M angel+ round led by Vertex Ventures

The startup is betting fully humanoid robots, not cheaper wheeled machines, will win because human infrastructure demands human form.

• Kinetix AI closed an angel+ funding round exceeding 500 million yuan (about $74.5M), led by Temasek-backed Vertex Ventures with F&G Venture and Wanshi Capital also participating.
• Founded in September 2025, the Chinese startup builds full-stack embodied AI foundation models and highly humanoid robots, and already employs nearly 200 people.
• Its first full-size humanoid robot, KAIBot, stands 1.73 meters tall with 115 degrees of freedom and was unveiled in April 2026.
• The founding team pairs CEO Yu Jie, former general manager of Huawei's autonomous driving commercial vehicle unit, with HKU computing dean Luo Ping and ex-XPeng humanoid hardware lead Zheng Cunyuan.
• This angel+ tranche follows three prior funding rounds the company had already closed in its first year of existence.
• China's embodied AI sector drew roughly 90.6 billion yuan across 312 deals in the first half of 2026, the second-largest funding pool after large language models.
• Kinetix AI is wagering that fully humanoid form factors, despite higher costs and slower validation cycles, will outcompete cheaper wheeled robots as automation moves into spaces built for people.