Manycore on road to become world's first spatial intelligence unicorn

Manycore, a spatial intelligence pioneer and one of the Hangzhou's "Six Little Dragons" IT businesses, filed for a Hong Kong IPO on February 17, intending to become the world's first spatial intelligence unicorn.

This milestone highlights the growth of six homegrown high-tech firms – DeepSeek, Unitree, Game Science, DEEProbotics, BrainCo and Manycore – that are reinventing AI, robotics and brain-computer interfaces, propelling Hangzhou to become China's Silicon Valley of hard technology.

Dubbed the "Six Little Dragons" for their breakthroughs in cutting-edge domains, these firms have surged into global prominence in early 2025.

DeepSeek, an AI foundational model developer, achieved viral growth with 100 million new users in a single week in January, demonstrating its adaptability across industries.

Unitree Technology specializes in quadruped robots. The renowned robotic dog B2-W is capable of jumping over obstacles and descending steep cliffs with ease. Over 1 billion people watched its robots performing a traditional dance at the Spring Festival Gala, causing a nationwide sensation.

Last year, Game Science's "Black Myth: Wukong" became famous worldwide. DEEPRobotics created history by completing Singapore's first international power tunnel inspection, while BrainCo's non-invasive brain-computer interface technology has led to the commercialization of AI-powered prosthetic limbs.

Koolab, one of Manycore's AI technologies that uses cloud-based 3D spatial intelligence, has transformed global design workflows, servicing more than 30 million users.

Hangzhou has made a major shift from its e-commerce roots to nurture a compute-infrastructure-to-industrial application ecosystem. Strategic measures, including the 2017 inauguration of Zhijiang Lab and the 2022 building of an AI industrial park in Yuhang District, have established a conducive climate for high-tech research and development.

The city's strategic vision also aided the development of a group of businesses. BrainCo was founded in a Boston basement in 2018, when brain-computer interfaces were still uncommon. The Hangzhou government gave incentives, encouraging the company to expand in the city. The city's risk-tolerant funding also saved Unitree from near-collapse in 2017, allowing for robotic breakthroughs.

The city's emerging high-tech companies are also attributed to the prestigious Zhejiang University.

Three of the "Six Little Dragons" founders – DeepSeek, DEEProbotics and Manycore – are alumni of Zhejiang University, whose innovative entrepreneurship programs and lab-to-market ecosystems have incubated generations of tech leaders.

As Hangzhou develops its post-internet identity, these companies demonstrate how strategic forethought, academic-industry collaboration and local legislation can spark a hard-tech renaissance.