Turin (图灵机器人), a Shanghai-based industrial robot builder, has completed a Series A round of funding worth nearly 100 million yuan (US$14 million).
The round was led by a fund under Shaanxi Coal and Chemical Industry Group, with participation from Great Wheel Capital and Hainan Jirunjia.
Proceeds from this round will be spent on technological R&D and product iteration.
Founded in 2007, Turin mainly focuses on the development and application of smart industrial robots. After it acquired R.R.Robotica, a 45-year-old Italian robot manufacturer, in 2016, the company doubled down on industrial robotics and even rolled out a product without reducers, a key component in traditional industrial and collaborative robots, in 2019.
Industrial robots have a bright future in China, as the country has embarked on an ambitious drive to upgrade its industrial and in particular manufacturing segment.
According to a plan issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology together with other state organizations, the country is to double its industrial robot density in 2023 from 246 units per 10,000 employees in 2020.
Despite the huge market potential, Chen Dong, founder and CEO of Turin, believes that China’s industrial robot market is still in its infancy.
In his opinion, China’s industry has at least 200 million workstations to be filled by robots. But the penetration of industrial robots is still quite low. “Most manufacturing plants haven’t been automated by robots,” said Chen.
The effort to bolster efficiency at these establishments requires not just adjusting one or two workstations, but overhauling the entire production lines, by adding workstations, grippers and even parts with sense of vision and touch. Continued expenses are expected, Chen claimed.
At home, the industrial robot market grew at 30% every year, meaning that homegrown brands have lots of opportunities.
“It all goes down to the question of whether you can improve your products and create more value for customers while ensuring quality.”
Turin now has an extensive product line, consisting of six-axis industrial robots with a payload of 1.5kg to 500kg, SCARA robots with a payload of 3kg to 80kg, cobots with a payload of 3kg to 20kg.
Chen revealed that the company is also working on a Mini-SCARA robot with only 0.75kg to 1.5kg in payload. This product caters mainly to light and chemical industries.
In addition, the firm also has partnered with its Italian subsidiary to roll out heavy-duty robots with a payload of 1,000kg in China.
Turin provides one-stop solutions to clients from various industrial scenarios, on the back of its full set of self-developed robot controllers and over 20,000 robots deployed so far, whose stability and reliability have been verified by a massive number of use cases.
Turin’s products have been widely adopted in 3C, photovoltaic, lithium battery, energy storage, engineering machinery, auto parts, metal processing, LCD panel, clothing and food industries.
As market competition heats up, Chen of Turin said the firm has expanded its production base and joint R&D center. It is also actively exploring the overseas market to grab a bigger market share. “This year will be vital for indigenously made robots,” he explained.
