The Body Supply Chain Is the Moat: Why Physical AI Unicorns Come Out of Shenzhen
Speech Synopsis
Explores why China's Greater Bay Area (GBA), centered around Shenzhen, has become the epicenter for Physical AI (Embodied AI) unicorns — and highlights new horizons for global cross-border synergy.
- The GBA Supply Chain Moat: "The other trains the brain; GBA builds the body." Most Physical AI companies will eventually have to confront the system Shenzhen has built — either by joining it, partnering with it, or finding a credible way to compete against it.
- Full-Stack Ecosystem: Driven by elite talent flywheels (ex-DJI/Huawei), patient capital (government guiding funds + VC/CVC resonance), and a "Born Global" mindset from Day 1.
- Exit Pathways: There are liquidity pathways via Hong Kong (Chapter 18C), Shenzhen, and Shanghai exchanges.
- Brain-Body-Soul as an ultra-moat: Eventually the global race may still be decided by the Soul — product experience, brand, trust, distribution, and the human reason.
- Cross-Border Synergy: Opportunities for innovation and investment co-creation between China and Korea, leveraging the Soul advantage of Korea and its AI infrastructure.
Speakers
Tony Chen is the Founder and Managing Partner of Sparks Physical AI Ventures, a global fund dedicated to scaling early- to growth-stage startups in Physical AI. Bringing over nine years of venture capital experience, Tony was a founding investor at the Hong Kong X Technology Fund (co-founded by HongShan Capital), where he continues to serve as a Venture Partner. He has led more than 20 deep-tech investments with a 90% portfolio survival rate, including ESS unicorn EcoFlow and several near-unicorns such as ORCA-Tech, CYC Motor, and Haivivi.
Sparks Physical AI Ventures is a global investment fund and co-creation platform that coordinates and "assembles" the Physical AI value chain worldwide. Driven by a three-pillar strategy — Co-Build, Co-Invest, and Co-Win — the fund systematically empowers the expansion of global Physical AI enterprises. Tony believes the era of Physical AI requires perfect complementarity across three core pillars: Brain, Body, and Soul.
Prior to entering venture capital, Tony spent 15 years in engineering, project management, and operational leadership across Europe, Mainland China, and Hong Kong with Fortune 500 multinationals including Philips, Canon (Océ), and TE Connectivity. He is also a Founding Partner of MHL Capital Alliance, connecting family offices in Hong Kong and Europe, and spent eight years as Deputy Director at the Hong Kong X Innovation Foundation. He holds an M.Sc. in Materials Science and Engineering from Delft University of Technology (TU Delft).
Mike Lee is the Founder and Principal of Tenexel, an AI and robotics transformation consultancy focused on taking AI beyond proof of concept and into real operating environments. With more than a decade of experience in AI strategy and product development, he has led over 30 AI transformation projects for clients ranging from startups to Fortune Global 500 companies. His work includes enterprise AI platforms used daily by 20,000 employees and customer-facing services processing three million interactions per month.
Based in Shenzhen, Mike connects international demand for AI hardware and robotics with leading companies in the Greater Bay Area, supporting projects from partner identification and proof of concept through commercialization. In 2026 alone, he led partnership development in Shenzhen for German, Japanese, and Swedish enterprises, working with business leaders and investors across Seoul, Silicon Valley, and the Greater Bay Area.
Before founding Tenexel, Mike held AI product and consulting roles at MetanetGlobal, formerly Accenture Korea, and MAUM AI, a KOSDAQ-listed Korean AI company. His experience spans manufacturing, finance, retail, and digital services. He led multimodal AI agent research at Tsinghua University from 2022 to 2024, has advised Y Combinator AI startups since 2023, and holds a Master of Engineering from Tsinghua University.
YoonSoo Kim is Team Leader of the Open Innovation Execution Division at Hyundai Motor Group, where he works across open innovation and investment initiatives. Since 2024, he has focused on identifying new growth opportunities at the intersection of technology, business, and external innovation.
He joined Hyundai Motor Group in 2006 and spent approximately 18 years building expertise in intellectual property before moving into open innovation and investment. His experience combines a deep understanding of technology and IP with the development and execution of new innovation opportunities.
YoonSoo Kim holds a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Yonsei University.