Ep. 17: This Frenchman Built a Humanoid Robot in China

Ep. 17: This Frenchman Built a Humanoid Robot in China

"I did my best. Next, do the same in France." - Jules Thevenon, The Forge Humanoid Robotics A French founder spent 10 years in China, built a humanoid robot, and couldn't raise a cent. His engineers left for Unitree and Agibot. So he closed his Shanghai company and is starting over in France. We sat down with Jules Thevenon in Shanghai to ask why. In this episode: * Why 10 years in China ended with closing his humanoid robot startup * The funding wall for a foreign deep-tech startup in China * Watching his engineers leave for Unitree, Agibot, and other top humanoid companies * "If I was an investor, I might think the same" - understanding the skepticism * From exchange student to finance controller to selling Lingang to the world * Why he builds robots for the elderly, and going minimalist in France * Why he'll still rely on China's supply chain * Foreigners in China peaked in 2016, and what that means About Jules Thevenon: Jules is the founder of The Forge Humanoid Robotics. French, he spent about 10 years in Shanghai, earned a finance master at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and promoted the Lingang special economic zone before building a humanoid robotics startup. After closing it in China, he is rebuilding in France with a focus on robots for elderly care. Connect: The Forge Humanoid Robotics [https://theforgehumanoidrobotics.com] --- asiabits is on a mission to bridge the gap between East and West. We provide non-biased, on-the-ground insights into technology, innovation, and the future of business in Asia. Subscribe: asiabits.com [https://asiabits.com/en] Follow us on LinkedIn: Thomas [https://www.linkedin.com/in/afuthomas/] Michael [https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-broza/] asiabits [https://www.linkedin.com/company/asiabits/] Watch on YouTube: youtu.be/4LjczBtExH4 [https://youtu.be/4LjczBtExH4]

Ep. 16: He Left Germany to Build a $100M USD China Fund

"If I help people in the West to make money in China through financial returns by investing in real China technology — maybe then they will believe it." - Rafael Ratzel, TH Capital For years Rafael Ratzel went home to Europe trying to tell people what China is actually like. Lifelong friends called him brainwashed. So he stopped arguing and raised a $100M USD deep tech fund instead, because if he made his friends money in Chinese technology they would have to come see it themselves. Rafael landed in Hong Kong on the day of the biggest typhoon in HK history, age 19, with one suitcase. Eighteen years later he is Managing Partner International at TH Capital (华控基金), a Tsinghua-ecosystem deep tech VC with a portfolio that includes Zhipu AI, Aerofugia, Neuracle, and Lanxin Computing. In this episode: * The brainwashed accusation at a European dinner that made him pivot from missionary to fund-builder * A one-way ticket to Hong Kong in August 2008, arriving on the day of the biggest typhoon in HK history * A Lan Kwai Fong bar, a stranger, and a Shenzhen printing factory with chickens jumping on a five-million-euro Heidelberg press * Six years running a one-man trading and tech-licensing business between Germany and China * From Tsinghua MBA to passing on HNA, Anbang, and CMIG for the small fund that said no to a special package * Twenty years of thesis evolution at TH Capital: industrials, photonics, semiconductors, and now deep tech and quantum * Why US chip sanctions accelerated China's own GPU industry instead of containing it * Zhipu AI: backing the Tsinghua team before they started a company, before ChatGPT existed, from an 800 million RMB angel to a $50 billion listing * The Saudi investor who heard a Shenzhen chip valuation and said it would be 10x higher in Silicon Valley * Why Europe drops out of the next 20 years — and why he is still proud to be German * Cross-border M&A: the Dortmund acquisition, the SPIE Award the year after, and why his founder will never buy a German company again * Why "auswandern" is the wrong frame, and how he stays integrated on both sides About Rafael: Rafael Ratzel is Managing Partner International at TH Capital (华控基金), a Tsinghua-ecosystem deep tech VC founded in 2007, managing over RMB 10 billion across six RMB funds and one USD fund. The $100M USD fund closed end of 2024 with LPs from Greater China, Southeast Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the US. Portfolio includes Zhipu AI, Aerofugia, Neuracle, and Lanxin Computing. Rafael landed in Hong Kong on a one-way ticket at 19 in August 2008. PolyU engineering + management double major, Tsinghua MBA, MIT Sloan exchange. Eighteen years in China. Connect: thcapital.com.cn [https://thcapital.com.cn] --- asiabits is on a mission to bridge the gap between East and West. We provide non-biased, on-the-ground insights into technology, innovation, and the future of business in Asia. Subscribe: asiabits.com [https://asiabits.com/en] Follow us on LinkedIn: Thomas [https://www.linkedin.com/in/afuthomas/] Michael [https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-broza/] asiabits [https://www.linkedin.com/company/asiabits/] Watch on YouTube: youtu.be/uuCt-95dVIs [https://youtu.be/uuCt-95dVIs]

Ep. 15: He Left the US Army to Build Asia's First AI Fund

"I did a deck eight years ago around why this is the Asian century." - Tak Lo, Komputational Kulture The US looked at AI and saw Armageddon. China looked at AI and said this is great, we should embrace it. Tak Lo bet on that gap eight years before ChatGPT made it obvious. He went from US Army engineer to Booz Allen to London Business School to founding Asia's first AI-focused accelerator in Hong Kong in 2017, with around 50 portfolio companies, one IPO, and two acquisitions before Animoca took a majority stake. He is now raising two new funds at Komputational Kulture, one in media and entertainment, one in space. In this episode: * The comparative study that flipped his thesis: US perceives AI as Armageddon, China perceives it as productivity * "When you download an AI app, you are trading your privacy" - and why that deal lands differently in Asia * The eight-year-old deck on why this is the Asian century, vindicated by DeepSeek * How DeepSeek came out of a hedge fund's GPU inventory as a side hustle * From US Army to Booz Allen to Techstars London to Asia's first AI accelerator in Hong Kong * Two new Komputational Kulture funds, one in media and entertainment, one in space * Why live human content becomes the premium as AI slop floods every feed * Kudum: a Chengdu spin-off turning your phone camera into a 10-minute sperm test * South Korea at 0.85 children per woman, and why every modern country lands in the same hole * Why he is moving his family from Hong Kong to Shenzhen, and what he wants to find in Robo Valley About Tak: Tak Lo is a fourth-generation Hong Kong VC and AI strategist, currently raising two new funds at Komputational Kulture. He founded Zeroth.ai in 2017, Asia's first AI-focused accelerator. Co-runs The Automated, a daily AI newsletter, and is the author of three books: I, Leader; The Flow; and Atomic Prompts. Career: US Army engineer, Booz Allen Hamilton, London Business School MBA, Techstars London, Hong Kong eleven years ago. Connect: thetaklo.com [https://thetaklo.com] --- asiabits is on a mission to bridge the gap between East and West. We provide non-biased, on-the-ground insights into technology, innovation, and the future of business in Asia. Subscribe: asiabits.com [https://asiabits.com/en] Follow us on LinkedIn: Thomas [https://www.linkedin.com/in/afuthomas/] Michael [https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-broza/] asiabits [https://www.linkedin.com/company/asiabits/] Watch on YouTube: youtu.be/W-J87ne5un8 [https://youtu.be/W-J87ne5un8]

Ep. 14: He Left Sweden for China to Build GPS for Robots

"The AI revolution has almost definitionally not begun until we get physical AI." - Nils Pihl, Auki Labs Nils Pihl left Sweden for China to fix one missing piece of the internet, a spatial layer that gives robots, AR glasses, and AI agents a shared sense of where they actually are. His company Auki Labs just closed Sweden's largest retailer as its first big enterprise customer, is putting store-manager robots into shops in 2026, and is calling out Western VCs for being scared of breaking $10,000 of robot hands. In this episode: * "AI hasn't begun until physical AI" — and 70% of the world economy still runs on atoms * Why every robot wakes up convinced it's at coordinates 0, 0, 0 * The pyramids' worth of human time lost in Beijing traffic every single week * Naval Ravikant's missing fifth protocol and the sixth Nils added on top * Three new internet dimensions: spaces, sensors, actuators * The 43-gram Mentra glasses that finally make AR wearable all day * Why drone delivery to apartment 30C still doesn't work * Closing Sweden's largest retailer as Auki's first enterprise client * Store-manager robots vs store-worker robots in 2026 * $10,000 of Unitree robot hands shattering in seconds, and why he calls it cheap tuition * "Be an agent of change or get replaced by people that already are" About Nils: Nils Pihl is the founder and CEO of Auki Labs, a spatial-computing startup based in Hong Kong building the real-world web, a protocol giving robots, drones, and AR glasses a shared map of physical space. Born in Sweden, seven years in Beijing, now in Hong Kong. Auki's products include Posemesh (decentralized spatial layer) and Cactus AI for Retail. Connect: aukilabs.com [https://aukilabs.com] --- asiabits is on a mission to bridge the gap between East and West. We provide non-biased, on-the-ground insights into technology, innovation, and the future of business in Asia. Subscribe: asiabits.com [https://asiabits.com/en] Follow us on LinkedIn: Thomas [https://www.linkedin.com/in/afuthomas/] Michael [https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-broza/] asiabits [https://www.linkedin.com/company/asiabits/] Watch on YouTube: youtu.be/QY1mAg4lL54 [https://youtu.be/QY1mAg4lL54]

Ep. 13: $212K Ad Spend, Amex Capped Mid-Campaign, Still Hit $1M

"I think I probably had 10k in the bank account. This thing doesn't work, then I'm screwed." - Oliver Masson, Blisstil Oliver built sleep headphones alone for six years, burned through $700,000 of his own and his family's money, and cried in a Shenzhen hotel on his first night in China. Then he set a $10,000 Kickstarter goal and raised over $1,000,000 in 30 days. In this episode: * Crossing $1M alone: "you're never ecstatic, just more tired" * 36 prototypes to make soft foam and hard electronics coexist * First Shenzhen trip with $10K in the bank — crying in a cheap hotel * Finding his Chinese business partner via Dragon Innovation * Wanting to quit "at least once a day" for six years * Amex capping his card at $38K and a friend lending him 150,000 EUR * The Kickstarter algorithm: why 23% of pledges came free * Spending $212,000 on ads to raise $1,000,000 * Shipping 3,272 units in April and pricing against Bose * "Fall in love with the problem, not the solution" About Oliver: Oliver Masson is the solo founder of Blisstil, maker of the Serenade — over-ear ANC sleep and travel headphones born from six years of R&D. Australian, based in Lisbon. UNSW Renewable Energy Engineering, Sunswift Solar Racing Team, ex-carpenter, ex-entrepreneurship lecturer. Connect: blisstil.com [https://blisstil.com] --- asiabits is on a mission to bridge the gap between East and West. We provide non-biased, on-the-ground insights into technology, innovation, and the future of business in Asia. Subscribe: asiabits.com [https://asiabits.com/en] Follow us on LinkedIn: Thomas [https://www.linkedin.com/in/afuthomas/] Michael [https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-broza/] asiabits [https://www.linkedin.com/company/asiabits/] Watch on YouTube: youtu.be/0YoFuZwpiFU [https://youtu.be/0YoFuZwpiFU]