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VC firm Empyrean Sky Partners raises $90m for global tech fund
Empyrean Sky Partners (ESP), a growth-stage venture firm, raised US$90 million toward a US$200 million target for its Global Technology Fund and described the first close as the fastest first close of 2026.
The fund targets growth-stage companies at the intersection of AI, robotics, and advanced manufacturing.
It is co-managed with Lion X Ventures, which ESP said is OCBC’s technology venture investment partner and is advised by OCBC.
ESP said it has formed a strategic partnership with Dreame Technology to give portfolio companies access to Dreame’s industrial insights, engineering expertise, and commercialization capabilities.
The firm said institutional investors, family offices, and industry participants committed to the first close.
The fund will focus on companies combining software intelligence with advanced hardware such as robotics, smart devices, and logistics automation and will support companies with global expansion potential.
🧠 Food for thought
Implications, context, and why it matters.
The founder’s earlier bets fit the fund’s hardware and AI focus
- The firm draws hardware credibility from its chairman, Ming Lei. His earlier investments include electric vehicle maker NIO Inc., e-cigarette company RLX Technology, and lifestyle brand POP MART 1.
- Those businesses grew by turning products into mass-market hits. That record matches the fund’s aim to blend “software intelligence with advanced hardware” across robotics, smart devices, and logistics automation 1.
- This experience brings practical lessons in global manufacturing plus supply chains, which can shape how portfolio teams build and ship products.
The Dreame partnership gives hard-tech founders an industrial network
- The partnership with Dreame Technology offers capital plus Dreame’s industrial insight. It also adds engineering support and go-to-market help 1.
- That setup may push robotics and advanced manufacturing founders to weigh a fund’s industrial network over a higher valuation from a purely financial firm.
- The model could guide other tech hubs that want to build and scale hardware companies worldwide. It also supports ecosystems that can stand on their own outside Silicon Valley 1.
🔗 Source: Empyrean Sky Partners
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