Galaxea AI bets on embodied AI, valuation breaks 20 billion yuan

It builds embodied AI robots: a full-stack self-developed "one brain, many forms" system, with an embodied foundation model (EFM) plus bodies such as the wheeled dual-arm humanoid R1 series, sold to developer, industrial, logistics, and retail customers.

Bet that the brain, not body, decides: one EFM drives many forms, cutting learning cost 10x, first global developer share, then productivity.

About 10 million US dollars angel round in January 2024 (IDG Capital (IDG资本), Baidu Ventures (百度风投), etc.)

In September 2023, Gao Jiyang, who graduated from Tsinghua University's Department of Electronic Engineering (电子系) and previously worked on autonomous driving at Waymo and Momenta, founded Galaxea AI with co-founders including Zhao Xing, Xu Huazhe (assistant professor at Tsinghua University's Institute for Interdisciplinary Information Sciences), and Li Tianwei; two months after founding, it completed the first closing of the angel round, betting on "one brain, many forms".

In 2024, it completed an about 10 million US dollar angel round, received investment from the Beijing Robot Industry Fund (北京机器人产业基金), and completed a Pre-A round of more than 200 million yuan (led by Hillhouse Venture Capital (高瓴创投) and Ant Group (蚂蚁集团)); in 2025, it completed 5 A-series rounds in a row, totaling about 100 million US dollars, with Cathay Capital (凯辉基金), Lenovo Capital (联想创投), Haier Capital (海尔资本), Capital Today (今日资本), Meituan Dragonball (美团龙珠), and others entering. Two months after the R1 launch, it served more than 30 customers. In February 2026, it completed a 1 billion yuan B round, and in April it completed another 2 billion yuan B+ round, with the valuation breaking 20 billion yuan and cumulative financing reaching nearly 5 billion yuan.

As of September 2026: it has closed thousand-unit orders, served more than 150 developer partners, and its wheeled dual-arm robot developer market share ranked first globally in 2025; the company judges 2026 as the first year of productivity-scenario POCs, insists on first making the "0 to 1" solid, plans to begin ten-thousand-unit-scale volume ramp in 2026, and is preparing an industry fund, having invested in nearly 10 ecosystem companies.

One brain, many forms spreads training costs, cutting single-task learning cost 10x.

R1 at 199,000 yuan attracts developers, building data and reputation barrier.

Real-scene data plus RSR simulation, with NVIDIA partnership, treats data as moat.

Capital from Ant, Meituan, Hillhouse, etc., doubled valuation to 20 billion yuan in two months.

Gao Jiyang sees no large-company suppression, so startups can lead.

Galaxea AI uses a low-priced wheeled humanoid to win developers, then attacks productivity. Monetizing embodied AI is gradual; developer market as wedge, models ahead of hardware.

As of 2026-09-01, Galaxea AI's valuation broke 20 billion yuan, cumulative financing near 5 billion yuan. It invests 80% in R&D, released Fast-WAM, cooperates with NVIDIA, and invested in nearly 10 startups. Risk: industry early; founder warns against chasing shipment volume; thousand-unit orders must become ten-thousand-unit revenue.