"Robot+" Single Robot Breaks Even in Half a Year? Qingtianzulin Receives Additional Capital Investment, CSO Calculates the Leasing Business

This newspaper (chinatimes.net.cn) reporter Shi Feiyue, Beijing

“Currently, the overall return cycle for city partners is within a relatively controllable range. Based on our current estimates, the median payback period for the robot leasing business is about 6 months to reach break-even,” Wang Mingfeng, CSO (Chief Strategy Officer) of Qingtian Leasing, told media including a reporter from Huaxia Times on March 18. On the same day, Qingtian Leasing held its first “City Partner” conference, planning to complete cooperation agreements over the next two days.

Recently, although the performance of robotics concept stocks in the secondary market has been lackluster, capital enthusiasm remains high in the primary market. Also on March 18, Qingtian Leasing announced the completion of angel round and angel+ rounds of financing, covering a capital matrix of “hard technology + broad scenarios + pan-entertainment.” Notably, investors include Mingjia Capital founded by actor Huang Xiaoming and entertainment content company Lehua Entertainment, marking a deep integration of the robot leasing business with the entertainment industry.

Profit Logic of Robot Leasing

Founded less than three months ago, Qingtian Leasing aims to achieve “more than 10 original manufacturers, over 200 top-tier service leasing providers, more than 3,000 content creators, and over 400,000 leasing customers” this year. The prerequisite for reaching this goal is building a sufficiently large service network. To this end, the platform is vigorously promoting the “City Partner” model to accelerate nationwide deployment.

The so-called national city partner strategy involves Qingtian Leasing using platform collaboration to integrate scattered offline service resources, speeding up the construction and expansion of the nationwide service network, improving cross-city delivery efficiency, service consistency, and scalable operations.

“Initially, more than 10,000 people signed up, then it quickly grew to 20,000. Through screening and training, we expect the number of city partners this year to reach 1,400, covering most cities in China, creating a 2-hour service circle,” said Li Yiyan, CEO of Qingtian Leasing.

To attract more people to join the “City Partner” program, profit sharing is key. A single robot costs tens of thousands to over a hundred thousand yuan, which is a significant asset investment for individuals.

Wang Mingfeng told Huaxia Times that, based on current estimates, the median payback period for city partners is about 6 months. Taking the operational case of a city partner in Hubei as an example, each robot can currently handle 7 to 8 orders per month, with each order typically priced between 3,000 and 5,000 yuan, depending on scene type, service duration, and delivery content. Under these conditions, each robot can generate roughly 20,000 to 40,000 yuan in monthly revenue, though there are differences across cities, scenarios, and operational capabilities.

In theory, the specific payback time for city partners and the profitability of Qingtian Leasing fundamentally depend on the order volume and rental price per order.

During the Spring Festival this year, Qingtian Leasing’s platform orders increased by nearly 70% month-over-month from the first to the seventh day, with total orders exceeding 5,500 so far. For a relatively new platform, this is a good achievement. But how will market demand be maintained after the festival?

Li Yiyan admitted that major festivals are indeed peak periods for robot leasing demand, which is undeniable. However, for the platform, the key to determining whether this business can be sustained long-term is whether regular leasing can truly become operational. If the business always relies on holiday spikes, it will be difficult to form a sustainable, replicable business model. Based on this judgment, Qingtian Leasing is currently focusing on building the “City Partner” system. “The current robot leasing market is still mainly B2B, with B2C as a supplement. A notable feature of B2B is longer decision chains, which naturally depend more on deep offline reach, scene understanding, and localized service capabilities. This is the fundamental reason why the city partner model must be accelerated.”

Wang Mingfeng added that many industries experience obvious off-seasons because they are relatively mature, existing markets. But robot leasing is still an incremental market, and to some extent, it can be said that “off-season is not off” for this industry. “This industry has two characteristics: first, there is high demand, but supply has not yet fully expanded; second, it is still in the stage of educating the market and creating new demand. Many people are only now realizing that robot leasing is feasible. Gradually, demand will continue to grow.”

Regarding pricing, compared to last year’s rate of over 10,000 yuan per day, this year’s prices have significantly dropped to several thousand yuan. If only considering single orders, profits this year are naturally less than last year. However, Wang Mingfeng believes that price reductions to some extent reflect a healthier market trend because, although unit prices have fallen, order volume is rapidly exploding. He compared it to the early development of the automotive industry, noting that the robotics industry is also in its infancy. Rigid expenses such as R&D costs, fulfillment costs, and asset scheduling costs prevent prices from falling indefinitely. He predicts that future robot leasing prices will be gradually determined by market supply and demand, ultimately forming a relatively stable and healthy pricing mechanism.

Funding on the Way

Investors clearly recognize the business model of Qingtian Leasing.

On March 18, Qingtian Leasing announced the completion of angel and angel+ rounds of financing, with a total amount reaching hundreds of millions of yuan. The funds will be mainly used to establish a nationwide standardized fulfillment service network, upgrade platform assets and dispatch systems, and leverage real scene data to empower the industry chain upstream and downstream. “After these two rounds of financing, our valuation has already reached 3 billion yuan,” said Li Yiyan.

This means that within just three months, Qingtian Leasing has secured three rounds of financing. On January 15, the platform announced a seed round led by Hillhouse Capital (GL Ventures), with participation from Fosun Wealth, Muhua Tech Innovation, Dafei Fund, and Zhangjiang Group’s embodied intelligence company.

The angel and angel+ rounds attracted a capital matrix covering “hard technology + broad scenarios + pan-entertainment”: led by Dayang Electric, Muhua Tech Innovation, Minzhu Electromechanical, with follow-on investments from Lehua Entertainment, Fuzhuo Investment, Mingjia Capital, Ruisi Venture Capital, Tianji Investment, Jiaxing Nantou, and Zhixing Investment. Existing shareholders Dafei Industrial continued to oversubscribe. Industry chain players like Dayang Electric and Minzhu Electromechanical not only accelerate the large-scale validation of robotics in core industrial environments but also significantly improve the circulation and maintenance efficiency of robot assets. The continued investment from Dafei Industrial, an existing major shareholder, directly introduces a vast nationwide retail network and scenarios such as cultural, sports, and tourism exhibitions, speeding up the commercialization and penetration of robots.

Notably, this round of financing also introduces cross-industry entertainment ecology. Mingjia Capital, founded by actor Huang Xiaoming, and entertainment content company Lehua Entertainment have jointly entered the market. In the future, the platform is expected to explore “robot + entertainment” innovative leasing services in high-exposure scenarios such as large-scale commercial performances, concerts, and IP events.

Currently, entertainment scenarios remain one of the main application fields for robots. However, Wang Chao, founder of Wenyuan Think Tank, pointed out to this reporter that the robot leasing market heavily relies on public novelty and hype consumption. As technology matures, prices decline, and audience interest wanes, the market for purely performance-based leasing may face shrinkage and fierce competition. For sustainable industry development, more solid business models need to be explored, expanding robot applications into broader industries and daily life.

Li Yiyan responded that besides “entertainment + technology,” Qingtian Leasing is also implementing “technology + cultural tourism,” “technology + folk customs,” and “technology + offline spaces.” “Technology + retail” is also a scenario the platform will continue to develop.

In addition to the two recent financing rounds, Li Yiyan revealed that the platform’s Pre-A round is also underway, with over half the process completed. An official announcement will be made at the appropriate time. As for future fundraising, Qingtian Leasing is currently negotiating with several leading platforms and large companies, but specific details have not yet been finalized and cannot be disclosed at this time.

Editor: Huang Xingli Chief Editor: Han Feng