Xilect, a robotics chip startup founded by MetaX and UBTech Robotics, raised CN¥500 million in an angel round. The company is designing a system-on-chip for robots. The chip is meant to combine perception, decision-making, and motion control on the robot itself.
Funding details
GGV Capital and Matrix Partners China co-led the round. Other investors also joined. The company will use the funding for chip and software development, hiring, and joint testing with robot manufacturers.
Company background
Xilect was jointly founded by GPU maker MetaX and humanoid robot maker UBTech. It focuses on on-device computing platforms for robots. CEO Yang Xianbo previously served as a senior vice president at H3C.
How the chip works
The planned SoC is meant to handle multimodal perception, decision-making, and motion control on the robot. Xilect says the design targets robot main control needs. A companion software toolchain aims to help robot makers run existing AI models.
Xilect plans to provide a development and testing platform to partners in 2027. It expects to release its first SoC and a full embodied intelligence solution in 2028. The startup is currently advancing the chip architecture design.