Shi Jinbo studied at the Shenzhen Research Institute of Harbin Institute of Technology in 2005. He met Li Zexiang, a visiting professor at Harbin Institute of Technology and a professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and followed Li Zexiang all the way to his Ph.D. In 2009, Li Zexiang wanted to discuss cooperation with a Japanese equipment company. What the equipment company needed most was machine tools, movements and robots.
Shi Jinbo reviewed the financial reports of robot companies around the world and finally concluded that China's future robots will grow by 20% to 30% every year, and will really explode from 2012 to 2013. Shi Jinbo rejected the request to stay at the school to teach, and in March 2011, Liqun Automation was established.
Initially, it was positioned as a robot application and system integration project. During the demand survey for the heavy industry, Shi Jinbo discovered a well-known pain point in welding: welding seam tracking. In June 2011, when smartphones were booming, with Li Zexiang's help, Li Qun Automation won an automated testing project in cooperation with an American mobile phone company, earning about 2 million yuan.
Later, in order to maintain the company's operations, they successively completed some sporadic automation system integration projects. Liqun Automation has two major series that have been applied to the market. One is the AP series, which is the Apollo robot, which is mainly used for sorting and packaging of glass products, 3C electronics, precision instruments, daily chemicals, etc.; the other is the AH series. The Athena robot is mainly used for sorting and packaging of food, medicine, 3C electronics, daily chemicals, etc.
At present, many core components are ordered from foreign manufacturers, but they are also developed and customized with domestic partners. In order to better contact and serve users, Shi Jinbo decided to sell the robot itself and at the same time, combine the actual conditions of the customer's industry to build an integrated system for the entire solution.
This not only facilitates early market development, but also provides an in-depth understanding of customers' real needs for processes, time, floor space and other issues, and uses these feedbacks for future robot product directions. In addition, we will continue to deepen customers' acceptance and application of robots, find the corresponding points of robots in the entire production process, and find the key links to save efficiency. Currently, Liqun Automation has two types of customers, one is terminal manufacturers and the other is integrators who require standard products.
Li Qun’s automated ship can easily turn around and provide feedback to customers in a short time. In order to better meet the personalized needs of customers, Liqun Automation has opened up the underlying commands of the entire robot application. If customers have the ability to program, they can make more developments that suit their own characteristics. At present, Liqun Automation has sold a total of four to five hundred robots, with prices ranging from 60,000 to 150,000 yuan. The robot body and system are integrated together.
Customers are mainly concentrated in the Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta and central regions. In 2017, Liqun Automation will establish a branch in East China, increase sales channels in South China, and expand the service network.
Regarding the funding issue, Shi Jinbo said that he is not very worried. The company has received multiple rounds of financing. In October 2014, it received multi-million yuan angel round financing from Mingshi Capital. In April 2015, it received RMB 30 million in Series A financing from Sequoia Capital China and Mingshi Capital; in April 2016, it received tens of millions of dollars in Series B financing led by SAIF Fund.