Shanghai, China – YaoLe Tech, a Shanghai-based company specializing in flexible tactile sensing technology, has secured tens of millions of RMB in a new funding round led exclusively by Xiaomi, according to sources familiar with the matter. Yun Dao Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor for the deal. This investment will fuel YaoLe Tech’s research and development efforts in embodied intelligence, accelerate mass production, and support the expansion of its services.
Founded with a focus on flexible pressure technology research, YaoLe Tech’s core product is a flexible fabric tactile sensor designed to provide customized solutions for various industries, including automotive, furniture, healthcare, and sports.
The automotive sector demands rigorous testing and validation, with product integration cycles often exceeding three years. Components must withstand extreme temperatures, vibrations, electromagnetic interference, and hundreds of other stringent tests to achieve automotive-grade certification.
YaoLe Tech achieved a significant milestone in 2019 by passing automotive-grade testing with a leading luxury car manufacturer, becoming a core supplier of pressure sensing solutions for their intelligent cockpits. Leveraging its technological expertise and mass production capabilities, the company has broken through the monopoly held by international giants. It has become a designated testing partner for several leading automakers and has secured a mass production order for a monthly sales volume of tens of thousands of vehicles from a prominent domestic manufacturer. YaoLe Tech also provides in-depth services to high-end brands such as Porsche and Maserati.
Entering the automotive sector is essentially about honing technology to the highest standards and then applying it to other scenarios, said Lü Li Yun, founder and CEO of YaoLe Tech. Lü brings years of experience in the research and industrialization of intelligent driving sensors and robotics perception. She previously served as the chief architect at Harman, a global automotive electronics giant, where she led the development of a multimodal sensor fusion computing platform. YaoLe Tech’s core team members hail from top institutions such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the University of Michigan, possessing cross-disciplinary technical integration capabilities in materials, hardware, algorithms, and cloud computing.
Lü added, Currently, many companies are attempting to ‘bypass’ the market by entering emerging fields such as robotics, where supplier systems and standards are not yet fully established. However, the automotive industry’s validation system and supply chain thresholds truly define a company’s product capabilities.
YaoLe Tech’s automotive-grade technology reuse strategy has allowed it to extend its reach into smart homes and robotics. The company aims to leverage its established presence in the automotive sector to gain a competitive edge in these rapidly growing markets.
Conclusion:
Xiaomi’s investment in YaoLe Tech highlights the growing importance of tactile sensing technology in various industries, particularly in automotive and robotics. YaoLe Tech’s success in securing orders from leading automakers and its focus on automotive-grade quality position it as a key player in the flexible tactile sensing market. Future research and development efforts will likely focus on further enhancing the capabilities of flexible tactile sensors and expanding their applications in emerging fields such as embodied intelligence.
References:
- Huang, N. (2024, June 9). 柔性触觉感知公司获小米独家投资，已拿下头部主机厂、机器人企业订单｜硬氪首发 [Flexible Tactile Sensing Company Receives Exclusive Investment from Xiaomi, Securing Orders from Leading Automakers and Robotics Companies | Hard Krypton First Release]. 36Kr. Retrieved from [Insert Original Article Link Here]
Views: 0