36Kr Exclusive | Former Thermo Fisher Employee Starts Black Lantern Labs, Achieving 100% Domestic Delivery, Secures Nearly 100 Million Yuan in Funding

Ask AI · How does the self-evolving AI of the Black Light Laboratory reshape the scientific research paradigm?

Author | Ou Xue

Editor | Yuan Silai

Hardened Crypto has learned that Beijing Daina Experimental Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Daina Technology”) recently completed nearly 100 million yuan in Series B+ funding. This round was jointly invested by the Beijing New Materials Industry Investment Fund (managed by Shunxi Fund, hereinafter referred to as “Beijing New Materials Fund”) and the Fengtai Fenge Zhiyuan Industrial Incubation Fund (hereinafter referred to as “Fenge Fund”). The funds will mainly be used for core technology iteration, capacity expansion, and the joint construction of the world’s first new material CRO platform with Beijing University of Chemical Technology, accelerating the industrialization of AI + new material R&D services.

Daina Technology was founded in 2011 and is the first domestic company to propose and successfully deliver a Black Light Laboratory 100%. The company focuses on building global AI4S (AI for Science) infrastructure, realizing the vision of “research and development as production, everyone is a scientist” through the construction of a general R&D platform based on “AI + Black Light Laboratory.”

Daina Technology’s founder and chairman, Chi Haipeng, has an interdisciplinary background with a bachelor’s in chemistry, a master’s in biomedical engineering, and a PhD in artificial intelligence. He previously worked in Thermo Fisher’s China New Laboratory Business Department and has 21 years of experience in the laboratory industry. The core team gathers PhDs and experts from top universities such as Tsinghua University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Harbin Institute of Technology, covering key fields like chemical biology, data mining, and automation control.

The Black Light Laboratory is not simply automation. Chi Haipeng emphasized to Hardened Crypto that its core lies in two conditions: “completely unmanned” and “completely closed-loop.”

Daina Technology summarizes its implementation path into four key elements: a vertical AI brain, a set of embodied intelligent automation facilities, a high-quality data generation closed loop, and an environment that can be precisely controlled and regulated.

Unlike traditional automated laboratories, the core of the Black Light Laboratory is “self-evolution.” Traditional automation follows preset processes, while the Black Light Laboratory is AI-driven, capable of visual recognition, judgment, error correction, and learning, enabling a leap from “automation” to “autonomy.” For example, the company’s self-developed chromatography self-recognition system can help domestic instruments quickly identify spectra and optimize through algorithms.

Currently, Daina Technology has formed solutions covering fields such as chemistry, new materials, new energy, biopharmaceuticals, and food, providing full-chain services from laboratory planning, intelligent environment construction, AI model deployment to operation management based on customer needs.

Sierbon high-toxicity liquid high-throughput detection (Image source / enterprise)

As a pioneer in the Black Light Laboratory track, Daina Technology demonstrates strong growth momentum. According to Chi Haipeng, the company’s Black Light Laboratory business segment has maintained an annual compound growth rate of over 100% in the past two years.

In terms of commercialization, Daina Technology is currently the only company worldwide that masters the entire technology chain and can deliver 100% of Black Light Laboratory projects. Its client base includes large state-owned enterprises such as PetroChina, Sinopec, CNOOC, and China Energy Group, as well as Fortune 500 companies like Unilever, Nestlé, and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation. Additionally, the company has begun to expand overseas, signing strategic cooperation agreements with European laboratory industry giants and selling products in Europe through agency models.

We conducted an interview with Chi Haipeng to discuss his views on the technological route and industry development.

Below is part of the interview:

Hardened Crypto: “Black Light Laboratory” delivery difficulty is a common pain point. How does Daina achieve 100% delivery?

Chi Haipeng: The key lies in understanding the definition of “Black Light” and full-process self-research and development. Many projects fail to deliver because they do not truly achieve “unmanned” and “closed-loop.”

We insist on full-stack self-research from vertical models, embodied intelligent devices, to automation facilities. Only when suitable products are genuinely unavailable on the market do we develop ourselves, such as the Raman + optical recognition solution we developed for offshore platform projects. We have integrated all links and tested them in real scenarios like chemistry, new materials, and food, ensuring each project can ultimately be implemented and operated smoothly.

Hardened Crypto: What are the company’s future R&D focus areas?

Chi Haipeng: Our future R&D will focus on four main directions: developing various vertical models; strengthening multi-form embodied intelligent technologies; collaborating with instrument manufacturers to empower existing equipment with algorithms; and building a vertical track CRO platform.

Hardened Crypto: How do you view the future of Black Light Laboratories? What role does Daina play?

Chi Haipeng: The Black Light Laboratory can be seen as the “physical body” of AI in the scientific world. It not only executes experiments but also continuously generates high-quality, AI-friendly data to help AI models iterate and evolve. As China, the US, and Europe all elevate AI4S to a national strategic level, Black Light Laboratories have become a key infrastructure for seizing technological high ground.

Our goal is to become a leader in global AI4S infrastructure. In the future, by jointly building a new material CRO platform with institutions like Beijing University of Chemical Technology, we aim to accumulate enough high-quality wet experimental data, break down data silos, and truly drive a paradigm shift in R&D, making “research and development as production” a reality.

Investor perspectives:

Shunxi Fund states: Shunxi Fund pays close attention to the national strategic track of AI for Science (AI empowering research, AI4S). “AI + new materials” is an important component of AI4S. With continuous advances in artificial intelligence technology, AI + laboratory automation will profoundly change the mode of new material R&D and the form of related laboratories, shifting materials research from “experience-driven” to “intelligent-driven.” Black Light Laboratory is a crucial infrastructure for “AI + new materials,” and Daina Technology is a leading enterprise in this field domestically, with benchmark cases in chemical engineering and new materials already implemented.