A $1 billion investment in Ubtech: A new "Silk Road of robots" to the Middle East

A strategic financing of $1 billion has arrived, but the survival challenges for UBTECH, the "first stock in humanoid robots," have just begun.

Recently, UBTECH, a company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, announced that it has officially signed a strategic partnership agreement worth up to $1 billion with Infini Capital, an international investment institution.

According to Zhibaidao, this deal is far from a simple financing. It occurs at a crucial turning point when embodied intelligence is moving from the laboratory to the factory, and at a delicate moment when global technological competition and capital flows are being reconfigured.

This is not only the largest financial support UBTECH has received since its listing at the end of 2023, but also a strategic alliance aimed at resolving its fundamental contradictions. Although it holds the title of the "first stock in humanoid robots" and leads in hardware technology, UBTECH still bears the shackles of long - term huge losses and cash consumption.

Can this $1 billion be a shot in the arm for this continuously "bleeding" robot unicorn to get rid of financial pressure and leap onto the international stage? A deeper question is, when Chinese robot technology meets the sovereign capital of the Middle East, how is a new "Silk Road for Robots" being quietly constructed?

01 A Strategic Alliance Beyond "Blood Transfusion"

The sophistication of this $1 - billion cooperation lies in its complex financial structure and far - reaching industrial synergy planning.

Different from traditional equity financing, the agreement between UBTECH and Infini Capital constructs a highly flexible capital support framework. According to the agreement, the high - tech fund under Infini Capital will provide UBTECH with a strategic financing credit line of up to $1 billion. This credit line will not be injected all at once, but will be realized through a variety of flexible financial instruments, including participating in future share placements, subscribing for convertible bonds, and a crucial clause that grants the right to withdraw cash.

Zhibaidao analyzed that this means UBTECH can quickly activate a $1 - billion financing channel when needed, thus gaining great financial flexibility and strategic initiative. For a company that has conducted five rights issues since its listing and continuously diluted its equity to maintain operations, this "as - needed" capital arrangement is undoubtedly a precious lifeline.

It enables UBTECH to ensure funds for large - scale R & D investment, production capacity expansion, and market layout without having to conduct dilutive financing in unfavorable market conditions. In addition, Infini Capital's commitment goes beyond that. The institution plans to increase its holdings of UBTECH shares in the secondary market at an "appropriate time" with the goal of becoming a major shareholder with no more than 5% of the shares. This sends a clear signal that Infini Capital is not a short - term speculator, but hopes to be deeply bound and become a strategic partner for UBTECH's long - term development.

To understand the full significance of this deal, one must first understand the background and motivation of Infini Capital.

This international investment institution has a unique dual - headquarters structure, located in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and Hong Kong, China respectively. This positioning makes it a natural and ideal bridge connecting China's cutting - edge technology with the abundant capital of the Middle East.

The investment in UBTECH is the latest part of Infini Capital's systematic layout in China's AI industry, not an isolated event. In recent years, the institution has been very active and has a clear investment preference for top Chinese technology companies. Not long ago, Infini Capital made strategic investments in AI giants SenseTime and Fourth Paradigm successively, and participated in the placements of companies such as BYD. This series of operations clearly outlines its investment map, targeting leading Chinese enterprises in future industries such as artificial intelligence, high - end manufacturing, and new energy.

If flexible financial support is the "flesh and blood" of the agreement, then in - depth industrial synergy is its "skeleton."

According to the agreement, the two parties will establish a joint venture company in the Middle East to jointly promote UBTECH's technology and products to go global. The mission of this joint venture company is to establish UBTECH's regional headquarters, a world - class R & D center, and a "super factory" for producing humanoid robots in the Middle East.

Its strategic significance lies in opening up a new, capital - rich incremental market for UBTECH, and at the same time diversifying its production and innovation bases, effectively avoiding geopolitical risks that a single market may face.

More importantly, Infini Capital promised to use its large investment portfolio to empower UBTECH's ecosystem construction. The institution will mobilize the upstream and downstream enterprises in the AI and robot industry chains it has invested in to assist UBTECH in building more powerful and lower - cost robot products and constructing a complete supply - chain ecosystem around the "super factory" in the Middle East. This directly addresses the two core pain points of high costs and unstable supply chains faced by the commercialization of humanoid robots.

02 Surviving Between Growth, Losses, and "Money - Burning"

Despite the support of huge capital, UBTECH is still walking on a dangerous financial tightrope.

Behind the eye - catching revenue growth curve are continuous huge losses for many years and uncontrollable cash consumption. Zhibaidao believes that this funds from the Middle East is more like a crucial "safety net" rather than "growth capital," buying precious breathing time for UBTECH before achieving large - scale profitability.

Looking at UBTECH's financial statements, an obvious contradiction emerges. It is experiencing the typical dilemma of "growth without profit."

According to the latest interim results for 2025, UBTECH achieved an operating income of 621 million yuan in the first half of the year, a year - on - year increase of 27.5%. The gross profit also reached 217 million yuan, a year - on - year increase of 17.3%. However, the company's net loss during the same period was still as high as 439 million yuan. Although the loss narrowed by 17.2% compared with the 540 million yuan loss in the same period last year, it clearly shows that with the current business scale, UBTECH's business model has not yet achieved self - sufficiency.

This trend is consistent with the company's past performance. In the fiscal year 2024, UBTECH's annual revenue increased by 23.7% to 1.305 billion yuan, but the net loss was as high as 1.16 billion yuan.

In the first half of 2025, the main driving forces for UBTECH's growth came from the two sectors of artificial intelligence education and consumer - grade robots, both of which achieved a year - on - year growth of nearly 50%. In particular, the consumer - grade robot and hardware business achieved an income of 260 million yuan, accounting for nearly 42% of the core business and becoming the ballast stone at this stage.

However, other business sectors of UBTECH showed some volatility. For example, in 2024, the income of the logistics intelligent robot business decreased by 17.5% year - on - year. UBTECH explained that this was due to the delay in the delivery of some projects, which highlighted the uncertainty of its industrial business income as it depends on large - scale projects.

What really holds UBTECH's future imagination space is the still - nascent industrial humanoid robot business. 2025 is regarded by UBTECH as the first year of commercialization of humanoid robots. It plans to deliver more than 500 industrial humanoid robots within the year and won a procurement order worth 90.51 million yuan from Miyi Automotive Technology in July, which is the largest single - order amount in the global humanoid robot industry to date.

Analysts at HSBC predict that UBTECH's humanoid robot business revenue will achieve a compound annual growth rate of 313% from 2024 to 2027 and reach a scale of 2.5 billion yuan in 2027, accounting for 48% of the company's total sales. This is the core story that UBTECH is telling and that Infini Capital is willing to pay for.

But at the same time, continuous innovation and market development mean huge cash consumption. UBTECH's operating cash flow has been negative for many years. In 2024, the net cash outflow for the company's operations was about 884 million yuan. Although the operating cash outflow in the first half of 2025 narrowed from - 427 million yuan in the same period last year to - 370 million yuan, the "money - burning" speed is still astonishing.

03 Has the Embodied Intelligence Arena Officially Opened?

In 2025, the global embodied intelligence track is entering a critical stage of industrial implementation from concept hype. Especially in China, top - down policy support is injecting strong development momentum into the entire industry with unprecedented intensity.

In the "Government Work Report" released in March 2025, "embodied intelligence" was mentioned for the first time and was listed alongside quantum technology, 6G, etc. as future industries to be cultivated. This marks that embodied intelligence has risen from an industry buzzword to a national strategy. From "Made in China 2025" to the "Robot +" application action plan and then to the special guiding opinions for humanoid robots, the goal is to establish leadership in the global robot field between 2025 and 2027.

Among many competitors, UBTECH's most core and hardest - to - replicate advantage lies in its profound full - stack hardware technology, especially its independent R & D and cost - control capabilities for high - performance servo actuators, the "joints" of robots.

This hardware advantage is protected by a dense patent network. As of June 2025, UBTECH has 2,790 authorized patents. Relying on this advantage, UBTECH's industrial humanoid robot Walker S has been the first to achieve small - scale commercial deployment in real industrial scenarios such as automobile manufacturing, accumulating valuable implementation experience.

But besides hardware, UBTECH's challenges are also obvious.

Firstly, at the software level, the "brain" of robots, including multi - modal perception and decision - making large models, are all key competitive areas in the industry. Secondly, in terms of scale, UBTECH plans to deliver 500 - 1000 industrial humanoid robots in 2025, but there is still a huge gap compared with the production target of industry giant Tesla. Finally, there are domestic pursuers. Responding to the policy call, a large number of well - funded startups (such as Unitree Robotics and Zhipu Robotics) and technology giants (such as Huawei and Xiaomi) are flocking in, and UBTECH's first - mover advantage may be diluted at any time.

Zhibaidao believes that the battle of humanoid robots is not a single - dimensional technology competition, but a multi - front war. UBTECH has won the first battle - by mastering the core servo actuator technology, it has created a well - functioning and cost - controllable machine "body." However, the next battle that will determine the final victory will revolve around the machine's "brain" and "blood circulation system."

The $1 - billion strategic cooperation with Infini Capital is a timely help for UBTECH. It provides the long - loss - making company with the capital to survive and enables it to continue investing in the R & D of core technologies that determine the future. At the same time, it is also a powerful "launch pad." By deeply binding with Middle Eastern capital, UBTECH has obtained the ticket to enter the global new market and the cornerstone for building a global production system.

However, the road ahead is still full of uncertainties. Can UBTECH effectively use this funds to make breakthroughs in its short - board of AI software? Can its "super factory" plan in the Middle East be successfully implemented and truly form scale and cost advantages? The answers to these questions will not only determine UBTECH's own fate, but also affect the future pattern of the global robot industry.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Zhibaidao," author: Daoge. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.