Ant Group rushes into humanoid robots with a dozen deals in 18 months

Ant Group, the financial technology powerhouse affiliated with Alibaba, is making significant strides in the humanoid robotics sector. Recently, the company spearheaded a funding round totaling 500 million yuan (approximately $73.58 million) for Zeroth, a burgeoning humanoid robotics firm, marking its twelfth investment in the field since early 2025. This aggressive push into robotics comes on the heels of regulatory challenges that halted Ant’s initial public offering in 2020. Since then, Ant has pivoted strategically, launching a healthcare services application and developing its own artificial intelligence models. In late 2024, the company established RobbyAnt, a subsidiary dedicated to humanoid robotics, which has since produced its own robotic creations. Zeroth’s latest funding round also saw participation from other notable investors, including Monolith, Geely Capital, 37 Interactive Entertainment, and Hua Capital. This pre-Series A funding has now raised a total of 1 billion yuan for Zeroth. According to Zeroth's founder, Guo Renjie, the company is focused on integrating expertise from various industries, including smartphone chip technology, into its robotics. Currently, their robots utilize chips from Horizon Robotics. Founded in late 2024, Zeroth is strategically planning a gradual rollout of humanoid robots aimed at home use. Their initial focus is on developing companionship robots for elderly and pet care, with future plans to introduce educational robots for children. Guo expressed optimism about the company’s performance, revealing that they have received orders for over 30,000 units and experienced a remarkable 600% increase in operating revenue in the first half of the year. With aspirations to expand internationally, Zeroth is preparing to launch sales in North America and Europe this fall, pending compliance with local regulations. This surge in investment and development in humanoid robotics aligns with a growing interest in the field within China, highlighted by Nvidia’s recent announcement of new robotics positions in major Chinese cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen.