On March 26, the embodied intelligence sector witnessed groundbreaking news: TARS, a startup founded less than two months ago, announced the completion of a record-breaking angel round financing totaling $120 million (approximately 800 million RMB), setting a new record for the highest angel round funding in China’s embodied intelligence industry.
The funding was co-led by BlueRun Ventures and Qiming Venture Partners, with participation from Linear Capital, Hengxu Capital, Hongtai Fund, Lenovo Capital, Xianghe Capital, Hillhouse Capital, and other prominent investment institutions. The proceeds will primarily be allocated to product and technology R&D, embodied intelligence model training, and the expansion of application scenarios.
Dr. Chen Yilun, Founder and CEO of TARS, stated: “TARS’s mission is to build trustworthy super-embodied intelligent systems centered on physical-world AI and general-purpose robotics, enabling high-performance AI to integrate into human society’s production and daily life at scale.”
Chen predicts that over the next decade, embodied intelligence will become a key engine for global industrial transformation. TARS will continue pushing the boundaries of physical-world intelligence and exploring the infinite potential of embodied AI.
Officially established on February 5, 2025, TARS is the only company in the industry that simultaneously possesses capabilities in embodied intelligence large models, hardware R&D, and mass production of integrated software-hardware products.
On the technical front, TARS has pioneered a new paradigm for embodied intelligence development, creating an industry-first Human-Centric Embodied Data Engine. This breakthrough enables exponential advancements in real-world embodied data acquisition, injecting robust momentum into the sustained evolution of physical-world AI.
Additionally, TARS has developed the world’s first integrated spatial perception and reasoning decision-making embodied large model. By building data-driven, generalizable intelligent systems for the physical world, the company aims to accelerate the “GPT moment” for embodied intelligence technology.
The founding team of TARS, hailed as the “Dream Team” in the industry, is recognized as the “Most Full-Stack AI Powerhouse” in embodied intelligence to date.
Li Zhenyu, Chairman of TARS, previously served as President of Baidu’s Intelligent Driving Group, leading the development of the Apollo autonomous driving open platform and the world’s largest autonomous ride-hailing service “Luobo Kuaipao,” establishing himself as a pioneer in China’s autonomous driving sector.
Dr. Chen Yilun, CEO of TARS, is a leading figure in China’s embodied intelligence and autonomous driving fields. He formerly served as Chief Scientist for Robotics at Tsinghua University’s Institute for AI Industry Research, Huawei’s Autonomous Driving CTO, and DJI’s Chief Machine Vision Engineer.
Dr. Ding Wenchao, Chief Scientist, is a former Huawei “Genius Youth” and a rising star in embodied intelligence. As a researcher at Fudan University’s Robotics Institute, he spearheaded Huawei’s end-to-end decision-making network for intelligent driving and developed Fudan’s first humanoid robot.
Dr. Chen Tongqing, Chief Architect, holds a Ph.D. from Tsinghua University and served as Chief Scientist for national key projects. As former Head of Huawei’s ADS Intelligent Navigation Division and Chief Spatial Perception Expert, he has deep expertise in industrial manufacturing, AI, autonomous driving, and robotics, driving multiple products to commercial success.
Vincent, Chief Strategy Officer, is an expert in multimodal learning and a serial entrepreneur. Having held key technical roles at Huawei and Baidu, he brings strategic vision and a proven track record in commercializing cutting-edge technologies.
Leveraging their extensive experience in developing award-winning AI products, TARS’s founding team is dedicated to pioneering innovative embodied intelligence technologies and injecting fresh vitality into the industry.
Currently, TARS’s core team is fully assembled, with employees now based in its Shanghai office. The company is actively recruiting R&D talent, seeking candidates with a passion for innovation, relentless pursuit of technical excellence, and high growth potential.
