National competition in Shapingba District draws more than 100 teams developing robotics technologies for real-world deployment

CHONGQING, China, Sept. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — A national robotics competition held this month in Chongqing offered a look at China’s efforts to move embodied artificial intelligence out of research laboratories and into commercial use.

The finals of the 11th “Maker in China” SME Innovation and Entrepreneurship Contest for Intelligent Biomimetic Robots concluded Sept. 11 in Chongqing’s Shapingba District. The three-day national competition drew more than 100 teams from across China, with projects spanning biomimetic robotics, industrial automation and AI systems designed to perceive and interact with the physical world. 

Alongside the competition, organizers arranged meetings involving companies, universities and research institutions, as well as discussions aimed at technology transfer, financing and local deployment. The event formed part of a national program intended to support innovative SMEs with specialized technologies. Its theme was “Pushing Tech Frontiers, Unleashing Creativity.”

The competition comprised 13 tracks, covering work ranging from foundational research to systems approaching commercial deployment. Teams in the startup category competed in three broad areas: cutting-edge technologies, core enabling technologies and specialized applications. Their projects focused in part on the hardware, software and control systems underpinning the next generation of robots.

Teams in the enterprise category, by contrast, tested systems designed for real-world use in the electric power, healthcare and service sectors. The emphasis was on whether the technologies could perform reliably in operating environments and be scaled for broader deployment.

Many of the entries targeted technical bottlenecks that have limited the wider deployment of robotic systems. Projects included multi-robot coordination and task-scheduling systems for warehouses; assistive exoskeletons for older adults and rehabilitation patients; biomimetic robots for inspecting electric power infrastructure; miniature hummingbird-inspired flapping-wing drones; and robots capable of folding clothing autonomously. Together, the projects illustrated the range of engineering approaches Chinese developers are pursuing as they seek practical applications for embodied AI.

The competition also served as a venue for financing and business-development discussions, and several participating projects announced plans to establish operations in Shapingba. At the closing ceremony, the Shapingba District government signed letters of intent with SIASUN Robot & Automation Co., Ltd. and Chentu Technology, among other companies. ZTE also signed letters of intent with teams from Zhejiang University and Xi’an Jiaotong University.

Shapingba is seeking to establish itself as a center for embodied AI within Chongqing’s broader robotics supply chain. The value of the district’s robotics output rose 233% from a year earlier during the first seven months of 2026, according to local government data.

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SOURCE Xinhua Finance

Investment from Recurring Capital Partners will accelerate Peoplevine’s AI roadmap, payments infrastructure and global expansion across private clubs and luxury hospitality.

CHICAGO, Sept. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Peoplevine, the Guest & Member Experience CRM for hospitality, today announced a multi-million-dollar growth capital investment from Recurring Capital Partners (RCP). The investment will accelerate Peoplevine’s AI-driven product roadmap, payments infrastructure and continued global expansion across private clubs and luxury hospitality.

For hospitality operators in more than 20 countries, Peoplevine helps deepen guest and member relationships through a living profile, connecting identity, membership, preferences, payments, reservations, visits and experiences to make hospitality more personal.

Peoplevine is investing in AI capabilities designed to make the depth of guest and member context within its platform dramatically easier for operators to surface, understand and act on, turning the living profile into intelligence, personalization and action.

“Hospitality has always been about remembering people, who they are, what they value and what makes them feel known,” said Boren Novakovic, CEO of Peoplevine. “For more than 12 years, our technology has helped clients build those relationships, and the living profile gives operators that memory at scale. AI gives us an entirely new way to unlock it. This investment allows us to accelerate that vision and help our customers create more personal, more intelligent hospitality around the world.”

Peoplevine’s Guest & Member Experience CRM helps private clubs, hotels, resorts, stadiums, restaurants and other membership-driven hospitality operators manage the guest and member relationship across its lifecycle.

“The opportunity isn’t simply to add AI features to the interface,” said Jordan Gilman, CTO and Co-Founder of Peoplevine. “It’s to make the depth already inside Peoplevine more accessible and actionable. When intelligence can securely reason across the living profile, operators can move from searching for information to understanding what matters, identifying opportunities and taking action. We’re building toward a system of identity and intelligence that puts the full context of the guest and member relationship to work.”

The investment will also support Peoplevine’s continued international expansion, extending the company’s platform and support capabilities to private clubs and luxury hospitality operators in new global markets.

“Peoplevine has a proven track record of driving growth through innovation in the private club and hospitality market,” said Brian Henley, Managing Partner at Recurring Capital Partners. “Peoplevine is exactly the kind of high-growth, capital-efficient company we’re excited to support, led by a proven management team. We look forward to fueling their continued success and innovation.”

About Peoplevine

Peoplevine is the Guest & Member Experience CRM for hospitality, purpose-built for private clubs, hotels, resorts, stadiums, restaurants and other membership-driven hospitality businesses.

Peoplevine helps operators acquire, check in, engage, retain and grow guest and member relationships through a connected living profile that brings together identity, membership, engagement, transactions and experiences.

For more than 12 years, Peoplevine has helped hospitality businesses create more connected and personalized experiences and today serves customers across 20 countries.

Peoplevine integrates with leading hospitality platforms across property management, point of sale, reservations, payments and other critical systems.

For more information, visit Peoplevine.com.

About Recurring Capital Partners

Recurring Capital Partners provides growth capital to SaaS technology companies. Combining deep operating experience with startup finance expertise, the firm partners with founders and management teams to accelerate growth, manage business and personal risk, and help capital-efficient software businesses scale.

Media Contact

Chris Lindsey, Peoplevine, 1 7734160841, chris@peoplevine.com, www.peoplevine.com

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SOURCE Peoplevine

OTTAWA, ON, Sept. 18, 2026 /CNW/ —

Note: All times local

This document is also available at https://pm.gc.ca

SOURCE Prime Minister’s Office