A 20-year-old founder lands tens of millions in yuan for robot collaboration startup
What's the deal? Hangzhou Langji Intelligent Technology, a Chinese startup building intelligent robot collaboration systems, has closed an angel round worth tens of millions of yuan. The round was led by Professor Gao Bingqiang and his Gaofeng Patience Fund, with Xingchen Capital serving as financial adviser. ZhenFund is also among the company's angel-round shareholders.
The funds will go toward R&D on next-generation intelligent mobile devices, iterating the robot collaboration system, building supply chain and mass-production capabilities, and expanding the core team.
Langji Intelligent was founded in 2024 by Shi Mulan, born in 2004, making him one of China's youngest startup founders to attract institutional backing. Shi gained recognition during his school years for projects spanning drones, satellite radio receivers, and an award-winning self-balancing bicycle driving system. He won the Global Final Computer Merit Award and first prize in the Chinese region of the Qiu Chengtong Middle School Science Award.
Why now? Robot collaboration — where multiple machines coordinate autonomously — is a fast-growing segment of China's robotics market. Langji Intelligent is entering through the angle of intelligent mobility, building on Shi's work developing an autopilot scooter system using a pure-vision solution that covers perception, positioning, planning, and control.
Gaofeng Patience Fund is known for early-stage hard-tech bets, investing small and providing deep support. The fund's involvement signals confidence that the underlying technology is mature enough to begin productisation.
What could go wrong? Langji Intelligent is a very young company with a very young founder. Translating research-stage robotics projects into mass-produced products requires supply chain expertise, regulatory navigation, and commercial traction — none of which are guaranteed. The startup also operates in a crowded Chinese robotics landscape where well-capitalised competitors have significant head starts.
The signal: China's hard-tech investment ecosystem continues to reward technical talent earlier than ever. Gaofeng Patience Fund's bet on a 20-year-old founder reflects a broader trend: investors in the country's deep-tech sector are increasingly willing to back exceptionally young builders with demonstrated engineering chops, even before commercial proof points exist. It also underscores how robot collaboration — systems where multiple machines coordinate autonomously — is emerging as a distinct investment category within China's broader robotics boom.
Read more: eu.36kr.com
