China’s leading maker of humanoid robots, Unitree Robotics, is seeking a valuation of as much as 50 billion yuan ($7 billion) for an initial public offering it is planning.
Unitree has quickly become one of China’s most high-profile startups, with its robots capturing popular imagination globally thanks to their human-like capabilities, such as walking, climbing and carrying loads.
The company said last week on its X account that it was actively advancing preparations for an IPO and was expecting to submit the listing application documents in the fourth quarter of the year.
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It did not provide other details, including a timeline for a potential listing.
But people with knowledge of the plans told Reuters the company plans to list on Shanghai’s technology-focused STAR Market.
Unitree’s targeted IPO valuation of as much as 50 billion yuan, if achieved, would be a sharp jump from its 12 billion yuan value in the last fundraising round in July, the people said, adding the company is already profitable.
A prior funding round in June won Unitree new investors, including tech giants Alibaba, Tencent and electric vehicle-maker Geely Holding Group. The company currently has more than 30 investors, according to local corporate registry disclosures.
Unitree’s founder, Wang Xingxing, said after the June fundraising that Unitree’s annual revenue had already surpassed 1 billion yuan.
The firm began its so-called IPO tutoring process in July, with CITIC Securities acting as its tutoring institution in preparation for the listing.
Popularity and influence
Founded in 2016, Unitree leads the industry in terms of both production and sales, becoming a go-to choice for Chinese universities researching robotics, as well as a common sight in entertainment and sporting events all over China.
Its IPO will test investor interest in humanoid robots, a frontier industry that China is well-positioned to lead, thanks in part to its diverse and largely self-sufficient manufacturing supply chains.
The industry has benefitted from an abundance of local government subsidies and favourable policies.
Unitree’s founder, Wang, along with AI startup DeepSeek, was among a handful of executives who attended a rare meeting with President Xi Jinping in February, in what was seen as a turning point for China’s policies for the technology sector.
That was after Unitree gained huge popularity across China when its robots delivered a choreographed dance performance at an annual Lunar New Year’s Eve show broadcast by state-run China Central Television early this year. The show was viewed by more than a billion people and was China’s most-watched television show, SCMP reported.
The popularity of startups including Unitree and DeepSeek comes as China is investing billions of dollars in robotics, semiconductor and AI, amid an ageing population and growing competition with the US over advanced technologies.
If successful, Unitree’s IPO would be one of the biggest onshore tech listings in years, and would come as Beijing steps up efforts to support its tech champions in tapping capital markets for their funding needs.
China’s IPO market recovering
Chinese exchanges are experiencing a gradual revival in IPOs after nearly a two-year hiatus due to tightened regulatory scrutiny of applications and a volatile stock market.
Onshore IPO proceeds totalled $7 billion so far this year, up 40% year-on-year but still a far cry from the tens of billions raised from 2020 to 2023 for the same period, LSEG data showed.
A resurgent Chinese IPO market could help fund Beijing’s technology self-sufficiency drive and keep the country’s “unicorns” – firms with valuations of over $1 billion – in onshore markets, while aiding an economy suffering from the Sino-US trade and tech wars.
While it is not immediately known how much Unitree is seeking to raise in the IPO, a company with a valuation of around 50 billion yuan typically has to issue more than 10% of its shares in an IPO in China.
People who spoke to Reuters said Unitree – which has a coveted ‘unicorn status’ – is an industry leader with big growth potential and it would be listing in a market that is known for offering high trading multiples.
- Reuters, with additional editing by Vishakha Saxena
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