Startup profile · funding coverage
PHYMI funding, valuation and investors
China embodied-AI foundation-model startup — IDG led a seed of almost $100M; amount is approximate; no valuation.
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Funding, valuation & investors
Answer-first snapshotLatest funding
Seed
~$100M (almost $100M; exact figure undisclosed) · September 2026
Latest known valuation
Not publicly disclosed
Total disclosed equity funding
Not publicly disclosed
Excludes debt, grants, acquisitions, secondaries, and IPO proceeds.
Current status
private
seed · China
Investors in latest funding
Lead: IDG Capital
Other: Yunqi Partners , FOSUN RZ Capital , Glory Ventures , Didi Global , Hesai Group
Overview
PHYMI is a 2026-founded Chinese embodied-AI company building what it calls Physical Agents — systems meant to combine cognitive models with physical action. On September 9, 2026 DealStreetAsia, citing an official WeChat post, said IDG Capital led a seed of almost $100 million. Yunqi Partners, FOSUN RZ Capital, Glory Ventures, Didi Global, and Hesai Group participated.
Founder and CEO Liu Nianqiu spent more than seven years at Shenzhen autonomous-driving company DeepRoute.ai as a vice president and partner, and earlier was a senior engineer at Intel. Use of proceeds in the WeChat/DSA account: Physical Agent R&D, real-world dynamic data systems, product engineering, and hiring. Exact dollar amount, CNY figure, pre/post money, and traction metrics were not in the English report used here.
No PHYMI /startup/ collision with an existing Tracker entity. No /fund/ pages for IDG, Yunqi, Fosun RZ, Glory, Didi, or Hesai.
Why PHYMI is interesting
September 9, 2026: IDG Capital led a seed of almost $100 million (company WeChat via DealStreetAsia). That is a seed-sized label on a late-stage cheque. Valuation, exact amount, and any revenue were not disclosed. Founded in 2026 by Liu Nianqiu, formerly a VP/partner at DeepRoute.ai. Participants include Yunqi Partners, FOSUN RZ Capital, Glory Ventures, Didi Global, and Hesai Group.
Product & use cases
Company: Physical Agents that perceive, navigate, and manipulate in open environments. No independent product demo is cited in the DealStreetAsia report used here.
- Embodied foundation models for physical tasks (company description)
Key facts
- Sep 9, 2026: seed of almost $100M; IDG led (WeChat via DealStreetAsia)
- Exact amount and valuation not disclosed; treat ~$100M as approximate
- Founded 2026; CEO Liu Nianqiu ex-DeepRoute.ai
- Didi Global and Hesai Group in the round — strategics, not a priced mark
Funding history (newest first)
Seed
2026-09 ~$100M (almost $100M; exact figure undisclosed)- IDG Capital (lead)
- Yunqi Partners (participant)
- FOSUN RZ Capital (participant)
- Glory Ventures (participant)
- Didi Global (participant)
- Hesai Group (participant)
Source: Read source · dealstreetasia.com
Competitive landscape
Edge: The anomaly is the seed label on an almost-$100 million cheque from a 2026 founding, not a disclosed deployment.
PHYMI is an IDG-led China seed at almost $100 million with no mark. Do not equate it to US physical-AI rounds (Antioch $32M A, XDOF $70M last print) or invent a yuan headline.
-
XDOF adjacent
US real-world robot data collector in Series B talks. Different geography and product. See /startup/xdof.
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DeepRoute.ai adjacent
Founder’s previous employer (autonomous driving). Not this company.
Industries
Market / IPO context
Editorial / static context — not a live quote.
FAQs about PHYMI
Practical answers founders, operators, and investors typically search for.
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Editorial note: AI tools assisted with research, structure, or drafting. Venture Capital Tracker retains human editorial responsibility for factual accuracy, relevance, and source quality before publication.