Can Service Robots Become the Next $10‑Billion Tech Giants? Insights from Former Tencent CTO

Career Overview

Xiong Minghua joined Tencent in 2005 as Co‑Chief Technology Officer, overseeing platform R&D, instant messaging, and large‑scale online systems after a nine‑year stint at Microsoft and earlier roles at IBM, China Academy of Sciences, and KT International.

He later led Microsoft projects such as Internet Explorer, Windows 2000, and MSN, before founding the MSN China development center in 2004 and returning to Tencent in 2005.

Transition to Investment

After leaving Tencent in 2013, Xiong founded Qihai Capital and became chairman of AI startup ROOBO, which raised a 350 million CNY B‑round led by his fund.

He believes that service robots in the smart IoT space will explode, and that a company mastering vertical‑field service robots could be worth over $100 billion.

Internet 3.0 Vision

He divides Internet history into three ten‑year eras: 1.0 (portal sites, basic browsers), 2.0 (search, social media, mobile), and 3.0 (smart IoT, service robots). He cites Amazon Echo as the first IoT device and predicts tens of billions of IoT endpoints in China.

According to Xiong, the next Internet giant will emerge from the smart service‑robot sector, serving both B2C and B2B markets.

Investment Criteria for the Next "Tencent"

Key factors include a strong execution‑focused team with an internet background, practical product experience, and the ability to integrate hardware, software, and cloud capabilities.

He emphasizes the importance of a company’s core competencies, platform potential, business model, and growth prospects, especially in the AI‑driven robotics arena.

Conclusion

Xiong aims to leverage his cross‑border experience to help build an internationally competitive Chinese tech company that can lead the Internet 3.0 era.