Unitree Technology is gearing up for an IPO, attracting a crowd of star investors! Zhipu Robotics plans to acquire Shangwei New Materials, causing its stock price to triple.

Less than half a year has passed since the Spring Festival Gala in 2025 became a huge hit, and Hangzhou Unitree Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Unitree Technology") has started its sprint towards listing.

On July 18, the official website of the China Securities Regulatory Commission showed that Unitree Technology has started the listing guidance process, with CITIC Securities serving as the guidance institution. It plans to assist the company in preparing application documents for the initial public offering and listing in accordance with relevant regulations in the fourth quarter of this year.

Unitree Technology was founded in 2016 and is one of the most highly - regarded startups in the domestic humanoid robot field. It completed its Series C financing in June this year, with investors including China Mobile, Tencent, Alibaba, etc. The guidance filing report shows that Wang Xingxing is the controlling shareholder and actual controller of Unitree Technology, controlling a total of 34.7630% of the company's equity.

Wang Jiyue, a senior investment banking professional, told a reporter from Time Weekly that in theory, Unitree Technology could be listed as early as the first half of next year.

The reporter from Time Weekly noticed that since this year, many companies in the robot industry chain have planned to list on the A - share or H - share markets. Not long ago, Zhipu Robotics announced that it plans to acquire a controlling stake in Shangwei New Materials (688585.SH) for 2.1 billion yuan. The listed company had an 8 - trading - day "20CM" limit - up, with a cumulative increase of over 330%. Geek+ (02590.HK) listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on July 9, becoming the "first stock in the warehousing robot sector". In addition, more than 10 companies in the robot industry chain have submitted prospectuses to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Image source: Unitree Technology official website

A Gathering of Star - Capital Behind Unitree Technology

After 9 years of entrepreneurship, Wang Xingxing, a member of the post - 90s generation, has led Unitree Technology onto the path to listing.

Unitree Technology was founded in August 2016 and has now developed into a world - renowned civilian robot company. It focuses on the independent R & D, production, and sales of consumer - grade and industrial - grade high - performance general - purpose legged/humanoid robots and dexterous robotic arms. It is the world's first company to publicly retail high - performance quadruped robots and the earliest to achieve industry application, with leading global sales over the years. Unitree Technology gained popularity after the humanoid robot performance at the 2025 CCTV Spring Festival Gala.

On May 28 this year, Unitree Technology completed its shareholding system reform, and its company name was changed from "Hangzhou Unitree Technology Co., Ltd." to "Hangzhou Unitree Technology Co., Ltd. (stock - limited)".

According to Tianyancha, Unitree Technology completed its Series C financing in June, with investors including star - capital such as China Mobile, Tencent, Alibaba, Ant Group, Geely, etc. Its registered capital was changed on June 18, increasing from the original 2.889 million yuan to 364 million yuan.

The listing guidance filing report shows that currently, Wang Xingxing is the controlling shareholder and actual controller of Unitree Technology. He directly holds 23.82% of the company's equity and controls 10.94% of the company's equity through Shanghai Yuyi Enterprise Management Consulting Partnership (Limited Partnership), controlling a total of 34.76% of the company's equity.

The reporter from Time Weekly noticed that there is a gathering of star - capital behind Unitree Technology. The investors also include Meituan, Sequoia Capital China, CITIC Jingshi, Matrix Partners China, Shenzhen Capital Group, Beijing Robot Industry Investment Fund, etc.

It is worth noting that according to the information disclosed by the China Mobile Procurement and Bidding Network on July 11, Unitree Technology and Zhipu Robotics won the bid for the procurement project of humanoid biped robot OEM services of China Mobile (Hangzhou) Information Technology Co., Ltd. The total project budget is 124 million yuan.

Zhang Xiaorong, the dean of the Deep Technology Research Institute, told a reporter from Time Weekly: "It is very likely that the investors will be deeply bound to Unitree in the short term, but the form is not limited to simple 'large - scale procurement orders'. Instead, it is more about strategic synergy, such as cooperation and resource integration at the ecological level, and exploring applications and joint development in specific scenarios around their respective core businesses."

In recent years, Unitree Technology has developed rapidly, which can be seen from the growth of its employee numbers. According to Tianyancha, from 2022 to 2024, the number of employees insured by the company was 203, 258, and 324 respectively. Wang Xingxing revealed at the Tianjin Summer Davos Forum on June 26 that the company now has more than 1,000 employees and its annual revenue has exceeded 1 billion yuan.

At a press conference for Chinese and foreign journalists titled "Strivers on the New Journey" held by the State Council Information Office on July 15, Wang Xingxing said that in the first half of this year, the company's humanoid robot shipments increased significantly. The growth rate of the entire robot industry this year is very fast, and the trend of technological development is very clear.

At the forefront of the humanoid robot development wave, Unitree Technology has started the listing guidance process.

The guidance institution for Unitree Technology this time is CITIC Securities. Beijing Deheng Law Offices and Rongcheng Certified Public Accountants (Special General Partnership) will also provide guidance together.

Wang Jiyue analyzed to a reporter from Time Weekly that the guidance work can be completed in three months, and Unitree Technology has enough time to submit its application materials in the fourth quarter of this year. Of course, it is more likely to submit the materials at the beginning of next year. Unitree Technology can apply the pre - review mechanism of the Science and Technology Innovation Board, and if there are no problems, the progress can be very fast. In theory, it could be listed as early as the first half of next year, but the actual progress depends on the company's standardization level, business operations, review progress, and market conditions.

Robot Giants Flock to the Capital Market

At the forefront of the trend, there have been frequent capital operations in the robot industry.

On July 8, Shangwei New Materials issued an announcement stating that Zhipu Robotics plans to acquire 63.62% of the company's shares for 2.1 billion yuan through "agreement transfer + tender offer". After the completion of this equity transaction, the controlling shareholder of Shangwei New Materials will be changed to an entity jointly held by Zhipu Robotics and its management team, and the actual controller of the company will be changed to Deng Taihua.

The official website of Zhipu Robotics shows that the company was founded in February 2023 and has built a leading full - stack "robot body + AI" technology. It has three robot families: Expedition, Elf, and Lingxi, and its products cover a variety of commercial scenarios. Zhipu Robotics was the first in the world to achieve large - scale mass production and commercial application of humanoid robots, and its products are sold to many countries and regions around the world.

After Zhipu Robotics announced its acquisition, the stock price of Shangwei New Materials soared, with an 8 - trading - day "20CM" limit - up, and the cumulative increase reached 330.21%.

However, Zhipu Robotics clearly stated that it has no clear plan to sell, merge, joint - venture, or cooperate with others regarding the assets and business of Shangwei New Materials and its subsidiaries within the next 12 months, nor does it have a clear restructuring plan for Shangwei New Materials to purchase or replace assets.

Robot companies have also set off a listing boom on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Geek+ listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on July 9, becoming the first listed company in the global AMR warehousing robot market. The reporter from Time Weekly learned that Geek+ issued a total of 161.4 million H - shares in this IPO, raising a total of HK$2.71162 billion. It is the largest - scale H - share IPO of a robot company to date and the largest - scale non - "A + H" technology company IPO in the Hong Kong market since this year.

As of the close on July 18, the market value of Geek+ has exceeded 20 billion yuan.

More robot companies are queuing up to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Since this year, a series of emerging domestic companies in the robot industry chain, such as LeDong Robotics, WoAn Robotics, Standard Robots, Seer Robotics, and Yunji Technology, have submitted prospectuses to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. At the same time, some robot companies already listed on the A - share market are seeking "A + H" listings, such as Estun Automation (002747.SZ) and ZhaoWei Machinery & Electronics (003021.SZ).

Ding Shaojiang, an IT Internet observer and the founder of Dingke Technology, analyzed on July 19 to a reporter from Time Weekly that more and more robot companies are listing mainly because some key technologies in the robot industry have been gradually broken through, and new application scenarios have been continuously found in the B - end and C - end markets. At the same time, it also facilitates the smooth exit of some early - stage investors.

Reporter: Song Yiting

Editor: Huang Jiaxiang

Operator: Ke

This article is from the WeChat official account “Time Weekly” (ID: timeweekly). Author: Song Yiting. Republished by 36Kr with authorization.