Chinese Golf Startup PathFinder Secures Angel Round Funding, Founded by Three Penn Chinese Students
Recently, the smart hardware brand PathFinder, focusing on golf training scenarios, completed a tens of millions RMB angel round of financing, exclusively invested by Jinqiu Fund. The funds will be primarily used for product R&D upgrades, production delivery, and early channel deployment, fully preparing for the upcoming crowdfunding launch.
Founder Chen Yisheng, born in 1999, has years of experience in golf, tennis, and equestrian sports. Together with co-founders Xu Kaihan and Lin Zixuan, all pursuing master's degrees in robotics at the University of Pennsylvania's GRASP Lab, the trio each have over a decade of golf training background. Currently, over 95% of the team members play golf, including professional players and golf bloggers.
Above (from left to right): Xu Kaihan, Chen Yisheng, Lin Zixuan
Leveraging their expertise in robotics and sports training, the trio launched the AI golf smart caddie robot project in August 2024, introduced the first BirdieSense prototype in Q1 2025, and entered mass production preparation in Q4, with manufacturing by a mature consumer electronics top OEM. The product is expected to launch on overseas crowdfunding platform Kickstarter in Q2 this year, followed by its official website and Amazon in Q3, with initial product deliveries starting simultaneously.
Chen Yisheng revealed that they have already secured nearly 2,000 product orders, with total order value exceeding $1 million, mostly from professional practitioners.
PathFinder's team has developed a pure vision-based golf intelligent analysis system. Compared to ordinary golf AI tools, it can autonomously interpret data and provide professional judgments:
BirdieSense uses ordinary cameras and intelligent algorithms to become the world's first product to restore golf ball flight trajectories through optical cameras, at a cost of only one-thousandth of traditional radar equipment. It can comprehensively record ball path, swing motion, body posture, and other full-dimensional data. Through in-depth AI analysis, it accurately assesses the user's skill level and provides detailed improvement suggestions.
BirdieSense can actively provide training guidance like a professional coach and adjust its communication style based on the user's personality. From setting goals before training, real-time reminders during training, to post-training review and planning for subsequent practice, it follows through the entire process, helping users steadily improve and persist in training over the long term.
The brand primarily targets intermediate golf enthusiasts with purchasing power who want to improve their skills but face bottlenecks—Chen Yisheng believes that in the US alone, there are tens of millions of such people.
｜Source of news and images: "Jinqiu Collection" WeChat public account