Unitree has not gone public yet, but he has already earned a hundredfold return.

If Unitree's IPO can proceed smoothly, those investors who bet on Unitree early on may be the first to have the opportunity to cash in during this round of capital frenzy. Based on the valuation at the beginning of the year, considering only the current shareholding and excluding the income from the transferred equity, the book return rate of angel investor Yin Fangming is about 22 times.

Unitree's impending IPO is undoubtedly a major hot topic in the capital market recently.

According to the latest information released by the company, Unitree will submit its listing application documents to the stock exchange in the fourth quarter of this year. For the investors behind Unitree, the gradually clear IPO process undoubtedly means a relatively clear exit expectation.

Since the end of 2023, the capital activities in the humanoid robot track have significantly accelerated. Events such as multiple large - scale financings from companies like Galaxy General and Tashizhihang, and the acquisition of a listed company by Zhiyuan Robotics have continuously pushed the capital heat of the industry to new heights. However, at the same time, humanoid robots are still in the application exploration stage, and the commercialization and profit models are not yet mature. This means that most investments need to face a long return cycle.

Against this background, if Unitree's IPO can proceed smoothly, those investors who bet on Unitree early on may be the first to have the opportunity to cash in during this round of capital frenzy.

Angel Investor Yin Fangming

Among Unitree's luxurious shareholder group, there is an unremarkable Tianjin Junwan Hongyi Enterprise Management Consulting Partnership (Limited Partnership), which currently holds 4.42% of Unitree's equity. From the publicly available change records of Tianjin Junwan Hongyi, we can find the shareholder who has already realized part of the investment income. This shareholder is Yin Fangming, the angel investor of Unitree.

According to previous media reports, Yin Fangming is also an entrepreneur. Before founding the intelligent robot company Roobo in 2014, he worked at MediaTek and Qihoo 360, and also served as the person - in - charge of the mobile input method product at Sogou. In 2016, Yin Fangming decided to bet on Wang Xingxing: He invested 2 million yuan in Unitree at a valuation of 10 million yuan.

Industrial and commercial information shows that in August 2020, Yin Fangming withdrew from the shareholder list of Unitree Technology as an individual investor. At the same time, Tianjin Junwan Hongyi became a shareholder of Unitree Technology, and Yin Fangming maintained an indirect stake in Unitree through Tianjin Junwan Hongyi.

After that, new investors have successively joined Tianjin Junwan Hongyi as shareholders. These include the Suzhou Diancheng Technology Partnership (Limited Partnership) with a large - scale stake held by AVIC Trust, which entered in May this year, and the Harmony Beyond Small and Medium - sized Enterprise Development Fund (Yixing) Partnership (Limited Partnership), a fund managed by IDG, which entered in July this year. Their current shareholding ratios in Tianjin Junwan Hongyi are 32.4% and 11.9% respectively.

Yin Fangming's shareholding ratio in Tianjin Junwan Hongyi has dropped from the initial 70% to the current 12.9%.

An investment professional analyzed for the reporter of Venture Capital Daily based on the above - mentioned equity structure and change records that Tianjin Junwan Hongyi is actually a special vehicle for holding and transferring Unitree's equity. "It may have been initially established by early investor Yin Fangming for centralized equity management. As the capital actions such as the increase in Unitree's valuation change, this platform has gradually introduced new shareholders, and functionally, it has become a channel for both the transfer of old shares and the entry of new shares."

In any case, as the earliest investor to bet on Unitree, Yin Fangming has already realized part of the investment income through equity transfer. In March this year, there were widespread rumors in the market that Unitree's old shares were being traded at a valuation of 12 billion yuan. This information has not been verified. However, the reporter of Venture Capital Daily learned from multiple sources that a definite figure is that Unitree's post - investment valuation at the end of January this year was about 8 billion yuan.

Based on this valuation, considering only the current shareholding and excluding the income from the transferred equity, the book return rate of angel investor Yin Fangming is about 22 times.

Who Else Is Waiting to Cash In?

Different from Yin Fangming, who has already realized part of the income, most of Unitree's institutional shareholders are still waiting in the market.

According to industrial and commercial information, among the external institutional shareholders, Meituan holds 8% through Hanhai Information Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., a fund under Sequoia China holds nearly 7%, and Matrix Partners holds about 5.6% in total through two of its funds. These are the top three external institutional shareholders.

Other shareholders also include many institutions such as Golden Stone Investment, Matrix Partners, Beijing Government - guided Fund, Dunhong Asset, Source Code Capital, China Internet Investment Fund, First Heart Capital, Shenzhen Capital Group, Rongyi Investment, Lightspeed China Partners, Vertex Ventures, and DeXun Investment.

The entry times of these institutions are also different, and the valuation levels of Unitree have also changed significantly at different time points.

Many US - dollar - style funds such as Sequoia China, Vertex Ventures, Shunwei Capital, and Matrix Partners, as well as RMB - denominated institutions such as DeXun Investment, Dunhong Asset, and Shenzhen Capital Group, invested in Unitree before 2022 when the humanoid robot boom had not yet started. The reporter of Venture Capital Daily contacted these institutions to learn about Unitree's valuation at that time, but did not receive any responses.

Another unnamed investor close to the relevant shareholder parties revealed to the reporter of Venture Capital Daily that during Unitree's Series B financing around August 2022, the valuation level was about 1.9 billion yuan. Based on this valuation level, the institutions that entered before this time had already achieved a 4 - fold book return rate by the beginning of this year.

The institutions that entered after August 2022 include China Internet Investment Fund, Shenzhen Capital Group, Meituan Longzhu, Lightspeed China Partners, China Mobile, Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Fund, Tencent, Ant Group, and Alibaba. When these institutions entered, the humanoid robot industry was in its initial upswing stage. However, even during this period, Unitree's valuation level showed varying degrees of growth.

A comparable data is that, according to media reports, in mid - 2024, Lightspeed China Partners acquired 50 million yuan worth of Unitree's old shares at a valuation of 3.5 billion yuan. According to the above - mentioned unnamed investor, after Unitree's robot dog B2 - W became extremely popular at the end of 2024, the valuation of Unitree's old shares reached 5 billion yuan. "And by mid - February 2025, after Wang Xingxing participated in the private enterprise symposium, the price of these old shares more than doubled."

For the humanoid robot track, which is in a stage of rapid development, Unitree's IPO may not only be significant for the company itself but is also regarded as a milestone in the capitalization process of the humanoid robot track. From the angel investor who initially bet 2 million yuan, to those who made "non - consensus" bets when the industry was not yet popular, and then to those who flocked in under the wave of the boom, different types of investors bear different valuation costs and exit expectations.

Regardless of who is the first to secure profits, the progress of Unitree's IPO will have a demonstration effect in the primary market. It may be the first iconic case for cashing in on the capital heat of humanoid robots, and it may also open a clearer exit window for subsequent industry companies.

Special Statement: The content of this article is for reference only and does not constitute investment advice. Investors shall bear the risks on their own if they operate based on this information.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Venture Capital Daily", author: Ao Jin. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.