Author: Li Bing, Rongzhong Finance
Original Title: Half the Investment Circle is Thanking Unitree
"The First Humanoid Robot Stock on the A-share Market",
is coming.
"Thank you for giving us the opportunity to invest in Unitree five years ago."
At the Xiaomi product launch on March 19th, Lei Ming said this to Wang Xingxing standing beside him in front of the entire audience. The next day, March 20th, the Shanghai Stock Exchange website showed that Unitree Technology's application for a Sci-Tech Innovation Board (STAR Market) IPO was officially accepted.
The timing was so precise that one can't help but marvel—Lei Jun's vision is indeed sharp. The money invested five years ago is now about to become a stock that everyone wants to hold.
This is not an exaggeration. According to IT桔子 data, as of March 20, 2026, there have been 207 financing events in China's robotics sector this year, with 133 of them in humanoid robotics, involving 115 companies that secured funding. Among all these robotics companies in the primary market, Unitree is the only one that is already profitable, has a gross margin approaching 60%, is the global leader in humanoid robot shipments, and has officially knocked on the door of the A-share market.
The prospectus is clear: 2025 revenue was approximately 1.708 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 335%; non-GAAP net profit exceeded 600 million yuan; it plans to raise 4.202 billion yuan. More impressively, Unitree was profitable in 2024, and its gross margin surged to 60.27% in 2025, with gross margins for both humanoid and quadruped robots exceeding 60%, while most peers are still losing money or have gross margins below 30%. Of the 4.202 billion yuan fundraising, over 2 billion will be invested in core technologies like embodied AI models, and it aims to expand production capacity to an annual output of 75,000 humanoid robots and 115,000 quadruped robots.
While peers are still burning investors' money on prototypes, Unitree has already sold 5,500 humanoid robots, with an average selling price reduced to 167,600 yuan, while maintaining a gross margin of 62.9%.
This is the brutal rule of hard tech—whoever can first turn lab technology into products users are willing to pay for gets the highest pricing power in the capital market.
From Quadruped to Humanoid: Unitree's "Product Leap"
Looking at Unitree's revenue structure, you find a clear strategic transformation trajectory.
In 2022, the company's main business revenue was 121 million yuan, with quadruped robots accounting for 76.57%, the absolute mainstay. Back then, Unitree's image was still "the company that makes robot dogs." To date, Unitree has sold over 30,000 quadruped robots cumulatively, ranking first in global market share, generating stable cash flow and achieving mass production.
In August 2023, Unitree's first full-size humanoid robot, the H1, was launched. That year, only 5 units were sold, generating 2.9671 million yuan in revenue, almost negligible.
In 2024, the medium-sized humanoid robot G1 officially entered mass production, priced starting at 99,000 yuan, becoming Unitree's first general-purpose humanoid robot launched at scale, marking a key process in the commercialization of humanoid robots. This year, Unitree achieved profitability.
The turning point occurred in 2025. At the beginning of the year, 16 Unitree H1 humanoid robots performed on the CCTV Spring Festival Gala in director Zhang Yimou's program "YangBOT," completing an AI-driven cluster dance performance, with company founder Wang Xingxing personally appearing to support. Overnight, "humanoid robots" became a hot topic of public tech discussion.
By the first three quarters of 2025, Unitree's humanoid robot sales revenue reached 595 million yuan, accounting for 51.53%, surpassing quadruped robot revenue (488 million yuan, 42.25%) for the first time. In terms of sales volume, 3,551 humanoid robots were sold, 8.6 times the total for all of 2024.
From 5 units to 3,500 units, it took only two years.
More crucial is the price curve. The average selling price of humanoid robots dropped from 593,400 yuan in 2023, to 260,700 yuan in 2024, and further to 167,600 yuan in the first three quarters of 2025. Unitree explained in the prospectus: this is due to both changes in product mix (the G1 has a lower price) and active price adjustments aimed at "building long-term competitive advantages."
Trading price for scale, scale for data, data for the speed of technological iteration.
This strategy has already been validated in the quadruped robot market. Unitree has cumulatively sold over 30,000 quadruped robots, leading in global market share. Now, they are replicating this path in the humanoid robot赛道 (track).
Wang Xingxing's ambition doesn't stop there. In a recent public speech, he declared: "Humanoid robots will outrun Usain Bolt by mid-2026." Bolt's 100-meter world record is 9.58 seconds, corresponding to a speed of about 10.4 m/s. The Unitree H1's best speed achieved in preparation is already over 5 m/s.
Can it be achieved? At least Unitree has made the market believe in this possibility.
Star-Studded Shareholder List: Half the Hard Tech Investment Circle is On Board
The reason Unitree's IPO has shocked the entire industry is not only due to its performance but also because of that "all-star" shareholder list.
Founder Wang Xingxing directly holds 23.82% and indirectly holds 10.94%, making him the controlling shareholder. But through a special voting rights arrangement, he actually controls 68.78% of the voting rights.
On the institutional investor side, the Meituan faction (Hanhai Information, Galaxy Z, Chengdu Longzhu) collectively holds about 9.6488%, making them the largest shareholders besides Wang Xingxing and the equity incentive platform Shanghai Yuyi. Sequoia China (Ningbo Sequoia, Xiamen Yaheng) holds about 7.1149%. Matrix Partners China (Matrix I, Matrix III) holds about 5.4528%.
More notably is the involvement of internet giants. Tencent Technology directly holds 0.5986%. Alibaba faction (Hangzhou Haoyue) and Ant Group faction (Shanghai Yunyang) also appear simultaneously. Two major camps betting on the same robotics company is extremely rare in the capital market.
On the industrial capital side, BYD, Geely, funds under China Mobile, Beijing Robot Industry Development Fund, Shenzhen Capital Group (深创投), Jinshi Investment (under CITIC Securities), and others have all gotten on board. National team, industrial players, financial investors—none were left out.
This list sends two key signals:
First,赛道 (sector) consensus has been formed. From early pure financial investments (Shunwei, Sequoia), to later additions of industrial capital (BYD, Meituan) and national team funds, it indicates that robotics is now regarded by all parties as a strategic national industry with确定性 (certainty). BYD's involvement hints at the imagination space in automotive manufacturing scenarios, while Meituan's backing points to potential in logistics and delivery.
Second, extremely strong valuation premium capability. Against the backdrop of tightening liquidity in the primary market, Unitree can still attract such密集 (dense) capital influx, proving its scarcity as an industry leader. When the Series C round was completed in 2025, Unitree's post-money valuation already exceeded 10 billion yuan. Now冲刺 (sprinting) for an IPO, the market value expectation will only be higher.
The money Lei Jun invested five years ago through Shunwei Capital will likely see a high multiple return. No wonder Lei Jun thanked Wang Xingxing in person—this is probably one of the most successful early-stage investments by the Xiaomi ecosystem in recent years.
Unitree is the First
Unitree is the first humanoid robotics company to formally apply for a listing on the STAR Market.
According to public information, over 20 robotics companies including Leju Robot, Yun Shen Chu, Standard Robots, YouiBot, Rokae, Sanxing Intelligent, Atomrobot, Jiazhi Technology, Kanou普, and Jiuwu Intelligent have clear listing plans. Unitree, as the first to cross the line, has now卡在 (nailed) the timing to March 20, 2026, coinciding with the company's tenth anniversary.
What does this "first" mean?
First, the scarcity premium of being the "first humanoid robot stock on the A-share market." Although there are already robotics companies like Ubtech (listed Dec 2023 in HK) and Yuejiang (listed Dec 2024 in HK) in the Hong Kong market, the A-share market's valuation logic for hard tech companies is completely different. The STAR Market's liquidity, institutional allocation needs, and the加持 (boost) of the "import substitution" narrative all make Unitree one of the most稀缺 (scarce) targets currently.
Second, the establishment of an industry valuation anchor. Unitree's issue price, P/E ratio, and market performance will directly affect the valuation expectations of subsequent queuing companies. If Unitree can get a high premium, the entire industry will benefit; if the market reaction is平淡 (subdued), later companies may be forced to adjust expectations.
Third, the opening of a capital exit channel. In the past two years, the robotics赛道 (sector)融资 (financing) has been hot, but exit channels have been limited. Unitree's successful IPO means early investors have an exit template, and subsequent financing and M&A transactions in the robotics赛道 will become more active.
But risks also exist. Unitree坦承 (frankly admitted) in the prospectus: "Given that embodied AI model technology is still in the R&D and testing stage globally, the company has not yet applied its self-developed general embodied AI model to robot products on a large scale during the reporting period." However, Unitree is already prepared, having open-sourced two major embodied AI models, WMA and VLA,卡位 (staking a claim) in future technology directions early.
This is a common bottleneck facing the entire industry. Unitree breaks down robot capabilities into the "brain" and the "cerebellum"—the cerebellum is responsible for motion control (running, jumping, somersaults), the brain is responsible for understanding, interaction, and autonomous decision-making. Currently, Unitree's cerebellum is top-tier in the industry, but the brain is not yet mature. Without a mature brain, robots can only execute preset commands and cannot truly understand the environment or plan tasks autonomously.
When this technological bottleneck is突破 (broken through) will determine whether general-purpose robots can move from the lab to factories and homes, and will also determine Unitree's post-IPO valuation ceiling.
2026: "Multiple Rounds of Financing" Becomes the Norm for Star Companies
If we broaden our perspective to the entire robotics赛道, the financing heat in 6 is疯狂 (crazy).
According to IT桔子 data, as of March 20, 2026, there have been 207 financing events in the robotics赛道, with 133 of them in humanoid robotics involving 115 companies.
A significant trend is: the financing pace of star companies is accelerating, and the amount per round is getting larger.
Zhiyuan Robot, latest round valuation over 15 billion yuan. Its cleaning robot business "Zhi鼎 Robot" completed a several hundred million yuan Series A round in February, with investors including Shenzhen Investment Holdings, Lake Group, etc.
Galaxy General Robot completed a 2.5 billion yuan B+ round in March, post-money valuation 22.5 billion yuan, with investors including the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, Zhongxin Juyuan, E-Town Capital, Bank of China, Sinopec Capital, and other "national team"阵容 (lineups).
Lingchu Intelligent completed a 2 billion yuan Pre-A round in March, post-money valuation 8 billion yuan.
Paxini completed a 1 billion yuan Series B round in March, post-money valuation 10 billion yuan.
Stardrive纪元 (Era) completed a 1 billion yuan strategic round in March, post-money valuation 10 billion yuan.
Another noteworthy point: On March 18th, the robot rental platform "擎天租" (Qingtian Rent) completed a several hundred million yuan天使轮 (angel round), with investors including Yuehua Entertainment and Mingjia Capital—an investment institution co-founded by Huang Xiaoming. Yuehua Entertainment, an idol agency, has also started布局 (laying out) the robot rental赛道.
After the Spring Festival Gala, Unitree's humanoid robot sales "soared." When robots start doing the秧歌 (yangge dance) and martial arts, they become consumer products with entertainment and traffic attributes. Entertainment capital嗅到了 (smelled) this opportunity.
Financing rounds are also moving forward quickly. Many companies completed multiple rounds of financing less than a year after establishment, with Pre-A, A, and A+ rounds following one after another. Companies like深穹星核 (Deep Sky Star Core),灵御智能 (Lingyu Intelligent),萝博派对 (Robo Party),格松科技 (Gesong Technology)密集 (densely) completed天使轮 (angel) or Pre-A rounds in March, with amounts ranging from tens of millions to several hundred million yuan.
The logic behind this is: the赛道 is too hot, there's too much money, and there are too few good projects. Institutions are afraid of missing out, so they can only抢跑 (jump the gun).
Finally
Back to the moment Lei Jun thanked Wang Xingxing.
On the surface, this is an investor thanking a founder for the investment opportunity. But the deeper meaning is: thank you, Unitree, for proving that the humanoid robot赛道 truly has value; thank you, Wang Xingxing, for making everyone's bets have the possibility of回报 (return).
Unitree's IPO has opened up the imagination space of the A-share market for hard tech companies and has paved the way for the subsequent 20+ companies in line.
Of course, challenges remain huge. The "brain" technology is not yet mature, the overseas trade environment is complex, industry competition is intensifying—these risks are all clearly written in Unitree's prospectus. But the market is willing to price this risk because everyone believes—embodied intelligence is the ultimate form of AI.
Wang Xingxing wrote in the "Statement to Investors" in the prospectus: "2026 marks the tenth anniversary of Unitree's founding. For ten years, we have always held onto our original aspiration, dreaming of using technology to promote the progress of human society. Right now, we are on the eve of a global breakthrough in AI and embodied intelligence technology, at the dawn of humanity moving towards a higher level of civilization."
This narrative might be somewhat grand, but when said by a founder of a company about to go public (IPO), it's hard not to be感染 (moved). After all, in 2025, Unitree managed to sell 5,500 robots, achieve 1.7 billion yuan in revenue, and maintain a 60% gross margin.
And for those early investors in Unitree, they only need to do one thing:
Thank Wang Xingxing, and then wait to count the money.
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