XPeng Raises $100M in Funding, Might Soon Build the First Rideable Robot Unicorn

XPeng Robotics is owned by the XPeng car maker and last year it made the headlines with the “first ridable robot unicorn”, an adorable four-legged machine with intelligent driving, human-bot interaction, and a plethora of other cutting-edge technologies. Last fall, XPeng Robotics just teased the robotic mini-horse, but now the company announces that it raised $100 million in a Series A capital funding.

The money will be used for R&D investment in robotic hardware and software to speed up product development and boost technology. According to Mr. Cui Guangfu, one of the lead investors, the household robot market presents immense potential, and it is what XPeng plans to target, developing various competitive products. The company expects smart robots to enter households in the next two years, “enriching the experience of our daily routine.”

And XPeng Robotics’ first such product is the quadruped robot, which comes with autonomous navigation and is “able to deliver safe and agile motion performance with a multi-modal emotional interaction function.” The bot will serve as a companion with the ability to care, transport, and entertain.

Our talking unicorn comes with object detection and recognition, obstacle avoidance, visually aided motion control, and intelligent navigation. It will be able to respond to a person’s voice, facial expressions, body language, and tactile sensations. But one of its most appealing features by far is its rideability, although kids will probably be the only ones to benefit from it.

We still don’t have any info on a potential release date or the pricing of the robotic unicorn, but we’ll keep you posted. Meanwhile, you can take a look at the animation below to get a better idea of what the XPeng robotic quadruped is all about.