CONTEMPORARY Amperex Technology (CATL) has spearheaded a 1.1 billion yuan (US$153 million) funding round by Galbot, the first time that the Chinese battery giant has been the lead investor in a developer of embodied intelligent robots.

Galbot’s latest fundraiser was led by CATL’s investment arm, the startup has announced. Xiamen Puquan Private Equity Fund Management Partnership, which CATL partially owns, also participated. The firm noted that CATL will deepen industrial collaboration and provide critical support for deploying its large robots in industrial scenarios and scaling their applications.

Beijing-based Galbot, which has deployed some of its robots in smart retail, industrial, and healthcare settings, has raised more than 2.4 billion yuan over the past two years.

It launched the world’s first humanoid robot for smart retail in March. The wheeled dual-arm robot operates 24/7 in unmanned 50-square-meter stores, performing full-process automation, including inventory checks, restocking, item retrieval, and packaging, for 5,000 types of products.

Deploying the robot in a new store takes just one day, with almost 10 shops in Beijing using it for regular operations, the company said, adding that an accelerated nationwide rollout is expected within this year.

Last week, Galbot announced that it will set up a joint venture with Bosch’s investment arm Boyuan Capital while also inking a tripartite cooperation deal with the investment firm and Bosch China. The new alliance will focus on industrial manufacturing applications, jointly exploring the commercialization of embodied intelligent robots and facilitating their entry into global markets, Galbot said.(SD-Agencies)