QuikTech raises $15M Series A to build self-driving labs for science
What's the deal? QuikTechDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Chinese "physical AI" company building automated laboratories for scientific research, has raised US$13.8M (roughly $15 million) in a Series A round. The round drew backing from Co-Win Venture Capital, materials maker Feirongda, and Jinhui Big Data.
What's the endgame? Founded in 2021, QuikTech sells a "dry-wet" closed-loop system that spans AI experiment design, automated execution, data collection, and model iteration. It targets pharma, chemicals, advanced materials, and new-energy clients, a list that includes the Chinese Academy of SciencesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Boehringer IngelheimDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Hengrui Pharmaceuticals.
Founder and chairman Chen Nanjiang, a doctoral graduate of Beihang University, frames the stack as a body: hardware for physical execution, an operating system for scheduling, and a science model, MoleMind, for decisions.
Why now? QuikTech argues that AI4S — AI for science — is stalled by an "execution gap" and a "data gap" between digital decisions and real-world experiments. "Models can propose many hypotheses, but without real experimental validation and continuous data feedback, it is hard to keep improving prediction and decision-making" (translated from Chinese), Chen told 36Kr.
Where's the money going? QuikTech will fund core R&D, expansion into key industries, and construction of cloud laboratories. In the second half of this year it built its first fully automated AI chemistry lab, which both trains its models and underpins a new "experiment as a service" offering clients can access remotely.
Going abroad. Chen sees overseas markets as a priority, citing higher labour costs and stricter safety rules abroad. QuikTech has opened offices in Singapore and South Korea and is working with local universities, research institutes, and industrial clients.
By the numbers: The round sits near the top of its peer set — roughly the 91st percentile among 78 Series A rounds in China's education sector over the trailing 48 months.
What could go wrong? QuikTech concedes the model is not yet autonomous: AI-generated experiment plans still need a chemist's final sign-off. Whether it can turn claimed customer traction and cross-sector reuse into repeatable, economically viable deployments remains unproven.
The signal: AI4S money is shifting from software-only models toward physical AI that can design, run, and learn from real experiments. QuikTech's roughly US$13.8M round echoes recent self-driving-lab deals from VECVERSE and OXTIUM Sciences, and a July Beijing procurement program for autonomous-lab gear — a sign of institutional demand building alongside venture interest.
Read more: 36kr.com
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
