The Battery Startup Making E-Bike Packs From Industrial Waste

Zoolnasm Raises “Several Hundred Million” RMB as It Targets Southeast Asia’s E-Bike Market

Oct 14 • Dermot McGrath

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The Video AI Company Making Money From Its Rivals’ Models

Open-Source Video Model Startup Sand.ai Plans to Raise $44.5M at an Implied ~$1B Valuation

Oct 12 • Dermot McGrath

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A Student-Led Rocket Startup Raises Funds for Its First Flight

Z-TRAK, A Reusable Rocket Startup, Raises ~$15M at a $149M Valuation

Oct 7 • Dermot McGrath

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A Nine-Month-Old Startup Teaching Robots Human Skills Raises Pre-A++ at $890M

LiberAI raised several hundred million yuan at a ¥6B valuation to teach robots household tasks from human recordings.

Oct 1 • Dermot McGrath

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September 2026

The Printer Maker That Built a World Model

KOKONI raised ¥500M at a ¥4B valuation for a world model trained on Huawei's chips.

Sep 15 • Dermot McGrath

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The Solid-State Battery That Doubled eVTOL Flight Time

A Shenzhen startup is shipping a battery that doubles eVTOL flight time, beating out two of China's solid-state battery unicorns

Sep 10 • Dermot McGrath

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The China Round — August 17, 2026

A home robot that folds behind the TV, Chinese batteries plugged into Japan's grid, and AI shrunk to run inside a pair of headphones.

Sep 7 • Dermot McGrath

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A 2,000-Year-Old Gear Rebuilt for Robot Fingers

Shenzhen's Talls Gear raised ¥140M at a ¥1B+ valuation to make robot finger joints that hold their grip with no power

Sep 1 • Dermot McGrath

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August 2026

The China Round — August 10, 2026

A new AI coding harness claims the top benchmark score, a $200 coffee refractometer matches the $700 industry standard, and an ex-DJI founder raises…

Aug 28 • Dermot McGrath

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The China Round — August 3, 2026

Rival robot makers fund a shared AI brain, a battery giant bets on fusion, and a Chinese chip lands in a Volkswagen

Aug 10 • Dermot McGrath

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July 2026

The China Round — July 24, 2026

A $1.5 billion robot brain that proves itself at the mahjong table, two rival takes on AI memory raised in the same city in the same week, and an AI…

Jul 27 • Dermot McGrath

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The China Round — July 17, 2026

An AI diving mask from three DJI veterans, factory owners investing in their own sensor supplier, and CATL writing a solo check to a 21-year-old for…

Jul 22 • Dermot McGrath

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