NOUS ROBOT (NOUSBOT) recently completed a nearly 100 million yuan A+ round of financing. This round was led by Shunwei Capital and followed by Wangqian Mingcheng. The funds will be mainly used for expanding micro planetary roller screw production capacity, product iteration, and overseas market layout. So far, the company has completed four rounds of financing. Historical investors include SAIC Ventures, Pudong Science and Technology Innovation, Lenovo Ventures, and other industrial capital. NOUS ROBOT was founded in July 2023, originating from a family business with over 30 years of screw manufacturing experience. The company focuses on the forward R&D of planetary roller screws and linear actuators with full in-house production. It has established an R&D center in Shenzhen and manufacturing bases in Shanghai and Suzhou. Xu Yang, the founder of NOUS ROBOT, holds a Master's degree in Mechanical Manufacturing from Tongji University and previously worked at Valeo, where he accumulated extensive industrial experience in automotive transmission and precision manufacturing. "Over the past eight months, the market has undergone earth-shaking changes," Xu Yang told Hard Krypton. The last financing closed in December 2025, when the mainstream industry solutions mostly revolved around Tesla's dexterous hand. Today, the number of dexterous hand companies has doubled, and technology routes have rapidly diversified. The industry is no longer satisfied with "having a hand" but is extending transmission requirements to the wrist, forearm, and even neck and face. Xu Yang observed that the degree of freedom requirements for the neck have surged from one or two to four to six, placing extremely high demands on precise control of facial micro-expressions. "This is a result of market pressure," said Xu Yang. In 2025, the vast majority of dexterous hands on the market were "almost unusable," with frequent failures after only about 200 hours of lifespan. By 2026, although some products can perform simple operations, they still fall short of industrial-grade reliability. In the transmission solutions for humanoid robot linear joints, the debate between rotary joints and screws has a long history. Xu Yang believes screws will be the ultimate solution. Xu Yang further explained that although rotary joints are easy to control, it is difficult to achieve both high force and small size. Motor stalling and heating are common problems that have not been fundamentally resolved. NOUS's integrated screw linear joints are much better because the natural self-locking force of screws can alleviate continuous motor work, allowing intermittent operation. This not only solves the heating issue but also saves energy and extends lifespan, achieving multiple benefits at once.
At present, NOUS ROBOT has achieved mass production of the world's smallest planetary roller screw with a diameter of only 1.5mm and a nut diameter of 5.5mm, reaching C5 precision grade, with repeat positioning accuracy of ±0.01mm and a maximum bearing capacity of 50N. The micro linear electric cylinder integrated based on this product can output 15kg of thrust in a volume the size of a USB flash drive.
In addition, the company is iterating actuators toward the direction of "intelligence." The new generation of integrated intelligent electric cylinders integrates force feedback, precision feedback, and temperature feedback. For example, force feedback needs to be accurate to 1% fluctuation, and there should be an alarm when the motor degrades after heating. These multi-dimensional sensor data will be transmitted back to the robot's brain and cerebellum, providing closed-loop decision-making basis for fine operations.
Hard Krypton learned that NOUS's ambitions are not limited to humanoid robots. Xu Yang showed Hard Krypton its "Force Matrix" product plan: vertically covering output from 3kg to 1000kg, and horizontally entering diverse scenarios such as medical surgical robots, lithium battery coating, semiconductor optical modules, and low-altitude economy. Taking the low-altitude economy as an example, NOUS has supplied control surface linear actuators to leading drone companies; in the automotive field, the Yanfeng seat project brought 8 designated points at once. The micro high-force-density electric cylinders can significantly reduce seat thickness and weight, and have been recognized by SAIC. In terms of production capacity, the company's Suzhou factory is currently running at full capacity 24 hours a day, with an annual capacity of 3 million units still in short supply. Xu Yang stated that based on the long-term projection of 1 million humanoid robots, the annual demand for planetary roller screws will reach 30 million, while global effective production capacity is seriously insufficient. After this round of financing, the company aims to increase production capacity to 10 million units by the end of the year.
