Hangzhou's industrial SECtor has welcomed a significant new player. In late April 2026, ZhaoGuan Electronics officially relocated its global headquarters to Linping District, Hangzhou, further bolstering the city's ambition to become a premier AI hub.
As a world-class visual AI Chip (VPU) enterprise, ZhaoGuan is led by Feng Xinpeng, who previously served as the youngest Global Chip R&D Director in the history of AMD. In 2016, he decided to return to China to start his own business, giving birth to ZhaoGuan Electronics. The company focuses on enabling AI machines in the digital realm to truly "underStand" the complex physical world. Over the years, ZhaoGuan has secured multiple rounds of financing, with Nine Wisdom Capital currently serving as its second-largest shareholder.
The second half of the AI era is witnessing a shift from the digital world to the physical world. ZhaoGuan's strategic relocation to Linping, Hangzhou, at this critical juncture serves as a prime example of deep synergy among startups, Investment institutions, and local governments.
AMD veterans Forge the "Eyes" of Physical AI
This team boasts a prestigious pedigree from AMD. Founder Feng Xinpeng participated in or led the design of over 50 CPUs and GPUs during his tenure at AMD. These chips were ultimately integrated into renowned products such as EPYC data center processors, Ryzen laptops and desktops, Microsoft Xbox, and Sony PlayStation. Co-founder Zhou Ji formerly served as AMD's Chief Scientist and the founder of its global ISP R&D center.
After years of frontline experience in chip design, the team witnessed the rapid advancement of China's AI technology. Recognizing that China possesses the world's most expansive terminal markets for robotics, drones, and industrial manufACTuring, they saw that Visual Intelligence was evolving into a trillion-dollar industry track. China offers the ideal environment for VPUs to transition from technical metrics to massive real-world APPlications. Consequently, Feng led his team to establish ZhaoGuan Electronics, embarking on an entrepreneurial journey in China's VPU chip sector.
Reflecting on the past two years, from Elon Musk pushing Autonomous Driving and Robotics toward real-world AI, to Fei-Fei Li proposing spatial intelligence and world models, and Jensen Huang introducing "physical AI," a consensus is forming: AI must transcend processing mere text, images, and videos to enter the physical world. Physical AI transmits physical world Information to computers in real-time to stimulate intelligence. The Visual AI chip (VPU) is the indispensable gateway for the physical world to interface with computing systems.
If large language models and GPUs serve as the "brain" of Physical AI—acting like the prefrontal cortex to reason and plan based on existing spatial information—then the VPU acts as the "eyes," functioning like the occipital lobe to generate spatial perception based on retinal light signals.
It is well known that Physical AI devices, such as robots and drones, demand extremely high real-time responsiveness. The massive volume of visual data generated every second cannot be transmitted back to data centers for processing. Instead, it must be processed at the edge instantly, achieving real-time 3D spatial perception, complex environment reCognition, and potential risk prediction with ultra-low latency and high reliability.
This is precisely what ZhaoGuan Electronics delivers: an "eye at the edge." Adhering to first principles, the company focuses on becoming the "NVIDIA of the edge" and specializes in "embodied vision." While the global GPU landscape is dominated by US giants like Nvidia and AMD, alongside domestic listed companies like Moore Threads (688795.SH) and MUXi Semiconductor (688802.SH), ZhaoGuan aims to replicate China's GPU success story within the global VPU chip sector.
Rooted in Hangzhou Linping to Build an AI City
For a long time, VPUs for robotics and other Physical AI applications were monopolized by Intel. Its RealSense system established a relatively complete user ecosystem through years of technical accumulation and standardized products.
In the domestic VPU track, ZhaoGuan Electronics is one of the few companies capable of competing with Intel on a global technical level. Its full-stack self-research, high degree of edge intelligence, and extensive industrial coveRAGe are unique in China. Currently, ZhaoGuan's products are deployed across leading CLIents in eight major "AI+" sectors and over 200 downstream scenarios. These cover critical Physical AI applications, including humanoid robots, industrial robots, service robots, lawn-mowing robots, underwater robots, robot dogs, drones, and smart transportation vehicles.
As the industry reaches a critical inflection point, ZhaoGuan has made a strategic choice for its industrial hinterland: Linping, Hangzhou.
A review of Hangzhou's industrial map reveals that ZhaoGuan's choice is no accident. First, China's "15th Five-Year Plan" has explicitly identified AI terminals, embodied intelligent robots, and the low-altitude Economy as key tracks. Hangzhou has proposed the "296X" advanced manufacturing cluster system, accelerating the construction of a complete AI ecosystem from chip design to scenario applications.
Within this Framework, Linping District holds a unique position. Situated at the golden intersection of the Yangtze River Delta G60 Science and innovation Corridor, the East City Intelligent Manufacturing Corridor, and the West City Science and Innovation Corridor, Linping utilizes the nation's first "computing power Town" as its digital foundation, creating a powerful gravitational field for hard-tech enterprises.
More importantly, ZhaoGuan's relocation to Linping represents a quintessential case of investment promotion driven by the synergy between local government and social capital.
This success is closely tied to Nine wisdom Capital, ZhaoGuan's second-largest shareholder. Founded in 2008, Nine Wisdom Capital is a renowned domestic tech investment firm. In 2025 and 2026, it was consecutively selected as one of the "Best Hangzhou Partners" alongside top-tier institutions like Sequoia and Shenzhen Capital Group. This recognition stems from its investments in numerous leading domestic high-tech companies in sectors such as chips, new energy, and aerospace. As a major shareholder in ZhaoGuan, Nine Wisdom has built a comprehensive frontier chip portfolio, covering computing chips, mEMOry chips, visual chips, RF chips, quantum computing chips, video compression chips, and 3rd/4th-generation power semiconductor materials and devices.
Nine Wisdom Capital has deep historical ties with Hangzhou and extensive fund collaborations with districts like Linping. It has previously attracted a series of high-tech enterprises to Hangzhou, including ARRow Yuan Rocket, Jinyu New Energy, and Bolai Technology, achieving a hArmonious alignment between the high-speed development of high-tech firms and local government investment promotion.
The arrival of ZhaoGuan Electronics undoubtedly adds a crucial missing piece to Hangzhou's trillion-dollar industrial clusters in Artificial Intelligence and visual intelligence. As a vital Carrier for Hangzhou's hard-tech sector, Linping District is poised to nurture the next multi-billion-dollar market cap company through this strategic acquisition.
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