QiaoTian Intelligent raises ~100M CNY Series A+ from National Industrial Mother Machine Fund
What's the deal? Shanghai-based QiaoTian Intelligent Equipment has closed a Series A+ round worth hundreds of millions of yuan, exclusively backed by China's National Industrial Mother Machine Industry Investment Fund. The company will use the capital to expand high-end production capacity, iterate on core technologies, and push into global markets.
Founded in 2016, QiaoTian makes robot-end and peripheral equipment for automobile OEMs. Its product lineup includes quick-change plates, magnetic mold change systems, grinding machines, and industrial connectors. Previous investors include Midea CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Waniu CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Zhejiang Venture CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
Why now? QiaoTian's magnetic mold change business — its second growth curve — has hit an inflection point. Orders for the segment in Q1 2026 alone surpassed the full-year total for 2025, with customers including Geely Automobile, Xingtai Mould, and Nobo Automobile.
The company also became a localised quick-change plate supplier for Beijing Benz late last year and is now courting German Mercedes-Benz and other European carmakers. Overall revenue grew 30%–40% in Q1.
Founder and chairman Liu Xiaoping pointed to three forces driving demand: mounting cost pressure across manufacturing, a labour shortage for heavy-duty mold changes, and a flywheel effect from early adopters who moved from trial purchases to bulk orders.
What could go wrong? QiaoTian is shifting from a single-product company to a multi-product one — a transition Liu acknowledged as the firm's biggest internal challenge. Managing synergy across quick-change plates, magnetic mold systems, and connectors requires organisational complexity that could strain a company still scaling up.
The firm also plans to pursue mergers and acquisitions in 2026 to achieve what Liu called a "1 + 1 > 2" synergy effect. M&A integration is notoriously difficult, especially for mid-sized industrial players expanding abroad simultaneously.
The signal: The exclusive backing from China's National Industrial Mother Machine Fund underscores Beijing's strategic prioritisation of domestic "mother machine" capabilities — the foundational equipment that builds other machines. QiaoTian's early growth stage, as classified by Dealroom, combined with Q1 magnetic mold change orders already exceeding all of 2025, suggests the company is hitting a commercialisation tipping point just as state capital flows into import-substitution plays across automotive tooling.
Read more: eu.36kr.com
