BEIJING: Chinese humanoid robot maker Unitree Robotics is set to debut on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s STAR Market on Wednesday, putting one of China’s most closely watched robotics companies under its first major public-market test as investor enthusiasm for hard-tech assets continues to rise.
The listing comes as the 2026 World Robot Conference opens in Beijing and amid a broader wave of Chinese robotics companies seeking access to capital markets. Analysts said Unitree’s trading performance could become an important pricing reference for other humanoid robot makers, while also testing whether investor enthusiasm can translate into sustained confidence in the sector’s commercialization prospects.
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.
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, Chen Jing, vice president of the Technology and Strategy Research Institute, told the Global Times. 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.
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.
The company’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 Daily Mail-Global Times news exchange item
