Unitree Passes the Hearing, Hangzhou Reaps the Rewards
Unitree Technology, a leading company in Hangzhou's tech scene known as one of the "Hangzhou Six Dragons," has officially passed the review for listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's STAR Market (科创板). It plans to raise 4.202 billion yuan for the research and development of intelligent robot models and robot hardware. This milestone will make Unitree the "first humanoid robotics stock."
Founded in 2016 by Wang Xingxing, the company started humbly in a small office in Hangzhou's Binjiang district. Initially, the robotics sector was not viewed favorably by the market, with Unitree's products often labeled as "toys" and struggling to secure funding. At its most critical point, with only around 100,000 yuan left, Wang stopped his own salary to keep the company afloat.
A crucial turning point came in 2018 when Hangzhou's state-owned capital system provided timely support. A financial platform under the city's state-owned assets completed due diligence in three days and granted a 20-million-yuan loan within a week. This "patient capital" infusion stabilized Unitree, enabling its transition from prototype development to mass production and commercial viability. Subsequently, Hangzhou Capital, through its two major 100-billion-yuan mother funds—the Hangzhou Science and Technology Innovation Fund and the Hangzhou Innovation Fund—participated in four of Unitree's financing rounds (B2, B3, C, and C+). This continuous backing helped the company grow, attract top-tier industrial investors like China Mobile, Tencent, Alibaba, and Geely, and solidify its position as a global leader in legged robotics.
By 2025, Unitree achieved significant scale, with revenue reaching 16.99 billion yuan, net profit of 5.91 billion yuan, global leadership in humanoid robot shipments, and over 33,000 quadruped robots sold worldwide.
Unitree's journey exemplifies Hangzhou's strategy of nurturing hard-tech startups from "seedlings" to industry leaders. Beyond Unitree, Hangzhou's capital ecosystem has supported other "Six Dragons" like Cloudwalk, BrainCo, and DeepSeek. The city has established a 500-billion-yuan "3+N" industrial fund cluster and specialized early-stage funds like the "Runmiao Fund" with a 20-year term to fill funding gaps for very early-stage projects.
This robust "capital + talent" model, coupled with an influx of over 430,000 young professionals in 2025 alone, has fostered a vibrant innovation ecosystem. Hangzhou is now home to 48 unicorns and 413 potential unicorns, building comprehensive industrial chains in AI, robotics, brain-computer interfaces, and more. As Hangzhou experiences a wave of IPOs, it is solidifying its reputation as an ideal city for entrepreneurs.
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