Xense Robotics, a Chinese embodied intelligence startup, has completed a pre-Series A funding round, raising a nine-figure RMB sum. The round was led by Fortera Capital, with participation from Li Auto, BeFor Capital, and Capital for Science & Industry, alongside existing investors GL Ventures, Oriza Seed, and Gobi China.
The proceeds will go toward R&D, product iteration, team expansion, and market development to strengthen the company’s end-to-end capabilities. This marks Xense’s third funding round in 2025, following prior investments from GL Ventures, Agibot, Oriza Seed, Gobi China, Plug and Play China, Jiaotong University Hanyuan Venture Capital, and Xiaomiao Langcheng.
The involvement of Fortera Capital and Li Auto is expected to accelerate Xense’s commercial rollout of tactile sensing technology in industrial settings.
Founded in May 2024 and headquartered in Shanghai, Xense develops multimodal tactile sensing systems for intelligent manipulation. By enhancing robots’ ability to perceive and interact with their surroundings, the company aims to advance embodied intelligence from fine-grained manipulation toward generalized perception.
A tactile path toward embodied intelligence
Founder Ma Daolin, who holds a PhD from Peking University, studied under robotics researcher Alberto Rodriguez and focused on integrating vision and tactile sensing into robotic perception. Ma is said to be among the first to propose spatial perception through touch, demonstrating high-precision motion tracking of grasped objects purely via tactile input. Other core members come from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Peking University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and University College London.
While technologies such as LiDAR (light detection and ranging) and 3D cameras have matured, manufacturing environments still involve many precision and flexible tasks where visual sensing alone is insufficient. As demand for adaptive and fine manipulation grows, tactile sensing has become critical for embodied systems. It enhances perception, improves adaptability, and enables more human-like feedback and interaction.
According to Verified Market Research, the global tactile sensor market was valued at USD 15.3 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach nearly USD 35.6 billion by 2031.
Building an ecosystem
The performance of embodied manipulation models relies on high-quality tactile data, which can be technically challenging to collect. Traditional tactile sensors often struggle with low resolution, limited multimodal input, poor durability, and high costs, limiting their use in automation.
To address these limitations, Xense Robotics has developed a complete product chain that spans core hardware and system-level platforms, including tactile sensors, data acquisition systems, tactile simulators, actuators, and control systems.
Xense’s multimodal vision-tactile sensors overcome these shortcomings with higher resolution, improved resistance to interference, multimodal fusion, and dynamic response. The technology supports dexterous manipulation, precision assembly, flexible logistics, and human-robot interaction.
The company’s sensors can reportedly detect micron-level shifts and force changes during assembly, helping prevent part jamming and wear. After millions of compression tests, they maintain reliability in high-speed industrial operations. Built-in self-calibration algorithms preserve lifetime accuracy while reducing maintenance frequency and cost. Compact at just four cubic centimeters, the sensors integrate easily into robotic arms and grippers, enabling precision wire insertion and miniature bearing assembly.
In addition, Xense’s solutions can reportedly reduce data collection costs by up to 95%, depending on scale and use case.
By combining proprietary sensors, control systems, and perception algorithms, Xense delivers integrated solutions that have been validated in industrial environments. Its systems can detect subtle force variations and adjust motion in real time, enabling high-precision insertions that legacy robots are unable to perform.
According to Xense, its technologies are already deployed in dexterous manipulation, precision assembly, tactile testing, flexible logistics, and home robotics. Clients include Agibot, Google, X Square Robot, Galbot, and EngineAI. The company has also initiated pilot collaborations with Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), Li Auto, and Haier.
As deployment expands, Xense plans to develop a tactile cloud platform that integrates sensors, data acquisition systems, simulators, and real-world applications. The platform aims to provide high-quality tactile data to enterprises and developers, reducing innovation costs and accelerating the broader adoption of embodied intelligence.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This article was written by Huang Nan for 36Kr.