Weitai Robotics Secures Pre-A Funding to Accelerate Industrialization and Scale-Up of Vision-Tactile Technology

Shanghai Weitai Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Weitai Robotics") recently completed its Pre-A financing round, led by Hong Bird Launch Fund, with participation from Lingyi Investment, Yongxin Ark, Will Semiconductor Ventures, Ningbo Jide, and co-investment from Shanghai Angel Club. Several existing shareholders also continued to participate in this round. This marks the company’s third funding round within the past year, bringing its total raised capital to several hundred million RMB. The proceeds from this round will be primarily allocated to three key areas: First, continuous iteration of visuo-tactile perception technology—optimizing sensor miniaturization, resolution, sampling frequency, and sensing accuracy, while enhancing capabilities for mass production and large-scale deployment. Second, advancing the commercialization of actuator products, including end-effectors such as grippers and dexterous hands, along with supporting hand-eye coordination algorithms, force control strategies, and real-world operational capabilities. Third, building a closed-loop system integrating visuo-tactile data collection and model training, enabling robots to learn manipulation strategies directly from contact-based interaction data. Concurrently, the company plans to recruit technical talent specializing in visuo-tactile perception, actuator development, data acquisition, and model closed-loop systems, while strengthening its manufacturing and mass-delivery capabilities. Weitai Robotics originated from the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Founder Dr. Rui Li has been engaged in robotics and computer vision research since 2005. During his time at MIT, he studied under Professor Edward Adelson, a member of both the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering, with whom he co-pioneered the field of visuo-tactile sensing. After returning to China, Dr. Li spearheaded the transition of this technology from fundamental research to industrial application, achieving the world’s first mass production of visuo-tactile sensors. To date, Weitai Robotics has established a comprehensive technological ecosystem encompassing visuo-tactile perception, actuator implementation, data acquisition, and model closed-loop systems. The company collaborates with leading enterprises across sectors including consumer electronics (3C), automotive, home appliances, and new energy. Its solutions are deployed in applications such as precision placement and assembly, unstructured adaptive grasping, and manipulation of deformable objects. Weitai serves three primary customer segments: 1) Industrial clients like Xiaomi, which deploy visuo-tactile sensors on production lines for high-precision assembly; 2) Embodied intelligence robotics companies that purchase two-finger or five-finger visuo-tactile sensors for dexterous hand development; 3) Research institutions and AI model teams acquiring visuo-tactile data collection equipment. Xiaomi has consistently invested in Weitai Robotics since its angel round and provides ongoing support in smart manufacturing, supply chain management, and product engineering. Weitai’s visuo-tactile sensors are already integrated into Xiaomi’s smartphone assembly lines for fine manipulation tasks—a landmark case demonstrating the technology’s entry into large-scale industrial adoption. Additionally, a dexterous hand company valued at over RMB 10 billion has adopted Weitai’s fingertip visuo-tactile solution in its latest product, achieving manipulation capabilities that surpass the range of motion of the human hand. Weitai Robotics aims to achieve a critical transition—from product delivery to large-scale deployment—by 2026.