Chinese robot dogs are striving for distinctive breakthroughs in the international market.

While global tech behemoths are still embroiled in debates over whether "robots can possess emotions," a group of young visionaries in Chongqing, China, have already delivered a charming and empathetic robot dog to the doorsteps of overseas customers.

Behind this achievement lies a daring foray by emerging company Ever Future into the realm of robot emotional interaction.

01 From Dream to Reality

The tale of Ever Future commenced with a young man and his cherished canine companion. Its founder, Song Peiheng, a post-95s, grew up alongside his pet dog "Kaka," an experience that kindled his dream of robots embodying the warmth of life.

In July 2022, driven by the vision of making robots more lifelike, Song Peiheng officially established Ever Future Innovation Technology Co., Ltd. in Chongqing and settled into the Mingyue Lake International Intelligent Industry Innovation Base, a collaborative effort between Li Zexiang and the Chongqing Liangjiang New Area.

It's worth noting that Ever Future shares a profound connection with Li Zexiang.

When the company encountered a supply chain crisis in its nascent stages, Li Zexiang stepped in decisively, providing angel round investment through the Qingshuiwan Phase II Fund under his XbotPark Robot Base.

This trust, forged in the crucible of adversity, didn't end there. In August 2024, the Qingshuiwan Phase II Fund led another round of investment, securing tens of millions of RMB in fresh financing for Ever Future. The lineup of co-investors in this round was equally impressive.

(Image source: Qichacha)

Currently, Ever Future's registered capital has soared to 1.4 million RMB. Its shareholders encompass both angel investment institutions that supported the company's early growth and new professional investors introduced in subsequent financing rounds. This tiered shareholder structure underscores the market's enduring optimism about its development prospects.

(Image source: Qichacha)

From childhood dreams to sustained support from renowned investment institutions, this young company is taking its emotional robot products to the global stage, showcasing the innovative prowess of China's new generation of tech entrepreneurs.

02 The Global Odyssey of Emotional Robots

Ever Future's global journey commenced with its flagship product—the quadruped robot dog "Xiaotian Sirius."

This intelligent robot dog, weighing a mere 850 grams yet boasting 14 degrees of freedom, has become the company's spearhead in penetrating the global market, thanks to its high dynamic motion capabilities and emotional interaction design.

In terms of international strategy, Ever Future has adopted a precise blend of online and offline approaches.

"Xiaotian Sirius" made its grand debut at the World Robot Conference in August 2024, capturing the interest of 12 overseas distributors within just three days, initially validating its market appeal.

It then swiftly appeared at the Caravan Salon Düsseldorf and IFA Berlin, precisely targeting geek communities and potential partners while undergoing rigorous international market scrutiny. This strategic exposure soon bore fruit.

In January 2025, the "Xiaotian Sirius" robot dog was featured in the official video of the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and garnered coverage from international mainstream media such as Fox and Wired, securing valuable international exposure for the brand.

In March of the same year, the Xiaotian Sirius robot dog stole the spotlight at the National People's Congress. Shortly after, in July, it officially launched pre-sales overseas at a price of $1,299 and made its debut on the Kickstarter overseas crowdfunding platform, exploring new avenues for global sales.

While expanding its market footprint, Ever Future hasn't rested on the laurels of a single product but has proposed a grand vision of constructing the "Hengbot World" ecosystem. Inspired by biological evolution trees, this plan aims to create a diversified bionic robot ecosystem.

In this vision, future robot life clusters will emerge, featuring "birds soaring in the sky, beasts roaming the wild, and fish swimming in the depths." Robots of different species will exhibit distinct characteristics and functions, simulating ecological interactions in nature.

(Image source: Ever Future's official WeChat account)

However, compared to its long-term vision, the company's immediate focus lies on the mass production delivery and market promotion of "Xiaotian Sirius."

03 Mass Production Challenges and Ecosystem Dilemmas

Ever Future is navigating an increasingly competitive quadruped robot sector.

Once considered a cutting-edge technological niche, this field now attracts a multitude of participants with varying strengths. Besides facing established players like Unitree Robotics and Deep Robotics in the vertical domain, Ever Future must also contend with tech giants like Xiaomi and Tencent, which leverage their vast resources for multi-faceted deployments.

Moreover, the regional clustering effect in the robotics industry is intensifying competition. Within Chongqing's Liangjiang New Area alone, where Ever Future is located, several innovative companies have emerged, including Jingjin Robotics, Qiteng Robotics, and Huashu Robotics, all vying for limited market share and attention.

Faced with fierce domestic competition, opting to go global as its primary market strategy is undoubtedly a wise move. Overseas markets generally exhibit higher acceptance and willingness to pay for such products, as evidenced by its product's overseas pricing of $1,299.

In terms of market performance, data disclosed by Ever Future shows it has secured 600 pre-sale orders, with an estimated revenue of around 5 million RMB. While this figure is impressive for a startup, it remains relatively modest in the global market.

More importantly, these orders are still in the pre-sale stage. In the robotics field, the true test lies in achieving scalable mass production and stable delivery. Many tech companies have stumbled precisely at this stage.

The case of Senhe Innovation serves as a stark lesson. In June 2024, the company launched the Oasa R1 lawn mowing robot, successfully raising $2.3 million with a starting price of $1,199 and gaining support from 1,790 users worldwide.

However, technological sophistication and market enthusiasm did not translate into actual delivery capabilities. Founder Li Chang publicly admitted the company's inability to proceed with product delivery and ultimately ceased operations.

Senhe Innovation's failure clearly reveals that the path to going global is far from smooth. There exists a formidable gap between idealized innovation and commercialization, requiring strong technical reserves, supply chain management capabilities, and financial strength to bridge.

Ever Future's proposed "Hengbot World" ecosystem vision also faces practical constraints. Given limited resources, the company urgently needs to allocate most of its energy and resources to addressing imminent challenges. This means the enterprise finds it difficult to divert excessive resources to support a long-term and uncertain ecological dream, easily rendering the "Hengbot World" vision as mere concept.

Furthermore, the core of the ecosystem vision lies in attracting developers, and building a developer community requires strong technical appeal and ecological attractiveness. As a new brand, whether Ever Future can successfully attract enough developers to co-build the ecosystem and create value for its platform remains highly uncertain.

For Ever Future, its ecological narrative undoubtedly faces severe tests before proving the commercialization capabilities of its core products.

Ever Future's development path reflects a common dilemma for Chinese robotics companies: how to deliver tangible present value while telling future stories?

Regardless of Ever Future's ultimate success or failure, its exploration has provided the industry with observable and contemplative samples.

And its fate will ultimately be answered by products, users, and time.

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