Unitree Robotics' humanoid robot is displayed at the 14th China Information Technology Expo in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, on April 10, 2026. Photo: VCG

Chinese humanoid robot maker Unitree Robotics will debut on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's STAR Market on Wednesday, according to an announcement released late on Monday. The listing coincides with the opening of the 2026 World Robot Conference in Beijing, offering a key test of investor appetite for the robotics sector in the secondary market, Chinese experts said.

According to the prospectus, Unitree plans to issue no fewer than 40.45 million new shares and raise 4.20 billion yuan ($623 million). Proceeds from the IPO will fund four core projects: intelligent robot model research and development, robot prototype development, new intelligent robot product innovation, and the construction of an intelligent robot manufacturing base, with as much as 85 percent of the proceeds earmarked specifically for R&D. 

The projects are centered on the company's core businesses and are expected to further strengthen its capabilities in core technology development, product iteration and large-scale manufacturing, helping consolidate its leading position in the global market.

Unitree's listing on the STAR Market signals that China's humanoid robot industry is moving beyond the early stages of technology validation and capital-driven expansion, a Chinese expert said. The listing of a leading player provides both a valuation benchmark and a financing template for the sector, while planned investment in manufacturing capacity suggests that top companies are already preparing for large-scale production, he said.

According to the announcement, Unitree Robotics priced its offering at 150.80 yuan per share, implying a price-to-earnings ratio of 219.23 times. Based on the offering price, the company's post-issuance market capitalization is estimated at about 60.99 billion yuan, meeting the listing criteria specified in its prospectus.

Unitree Robotics' IPO attracted about 9.78 million valid online subscription accounts, setting a record for a new share offering on the STAR Market. Its final online allotment rate was just 0.01809759 percent, the lowest in the market's history, making it the hardest STAR Market IPO on record for retail investors to secure an allocation in.

Meanwhile, a number of Chinese robotics companies are preparing for Hong Kong listings, with media reports estimating that 30 to 50 firms could be in the pipeline. As one of the first major humanoid robot makers to enter the public market, Unitree's post-listing performance could become an important valuation benchmark for peers still in the private market and companies preparing for IPOs, experts said.

Unitree's strategic placement attracted a group of prominent investors, including Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, the National Council for Social Security Fund, investment arms linked to China National Petroleum Corp, China Southern Power Grid and China Telecom, as well as a Tencent-affiliated investment firm.

Among them, DeepSeek was allocated shares equivalent to 2.31 percent of the offering, subject to a 36-month lock-up period. Unitree said in the announcement that the strategic investment could deepen cooperation in large AI models and embodied intelligence, combining the two companies' technological strengths to improve robots' ability to understand and adapt to complex environments.

From a startup founded in 2016 with registered capital of just 100,000 yuan to a company backed by a roster of prominent investors, Unitree's fundraising journey reflects the broader shift in how the robotics industry has been viewed over the past decade, experts said.

Unitree's strong reception in the capital market has also been underpinned by its robust financial performance. According to its updated prospectus released on August 14, revenue surged from 159 million yuan in 2023 to 393 million yuan in 2024 and 1.70 billion yuan in 2025, representing a three-year compound annual growth rate of 226.78 percent.

The company swung from a net loss of 11.15 million yuan in 2023 to a net profit of 95.47 million yuan in 2024, which rose further to 278 million yuan in 2025. Its gross margin from core businesses, including humanoid robots, quadruped robots and robot components, increased from 44.22 percent in 2023 to 56.74 percent in 2024 and 60.13 percent in 2025. R&D spending accounted for 31.39 percent, 17.83 percent and 8.53 percent of revenue over the three years, respectively.

Chen Jing, vice president of the Technology and Strategy Research Institute, told the Global Times that Unitree's fundraising plan shows that the most pressing challenge for China's humanoid robot industry is no longer the hardware itself, but the "brain" of embodied intelligence and the ability to operate in real-world scenarios. 

China has already built strong competitiveness in motors, reducers and motion-control hardware, while the next major barrier lies in enabling robots to autonomously perceive, understand instructions, make decisions and complete tasks in unstructured environments, he said.

However, Chen noted that the industry's core challenge remains technological breakthroughs rather than simply expanding capacity. Companies still need to improve robots' higher-level intelligence while proving that customers in industrial production, logistics and other real-world scenarios are willing to pay for their products.

Unitree's access to long-term capital could also accelerate consolidation in the sector, Chen said. Leading companies may use their funding advantages to speed up technological iteration and capacity expansion, pushing rivals to raise more capital or pursue differentiated strategies. 

Ultimately, he said, company value will be determined not by a single metric, but by technological capability, scalable production, order growth and, above all, the depth of real-world adoption and sustainable profitability.

From August 22 to 26, Unitree will return to Beijing to compete in the robot sports games held alongside the World Robot Conference. On August 20, Unitree founder Wang Xingxing is scheduled to speak at the conference, marking his first public remarks since the company's stock-market debut.