Another company among the "Six Rising Stars in Hangzhou" is going for an IPO.
At the beginning of the year, six emerging companies in Hangzhou became well - known. By the end of the year, several of these companies have received good news in the capital market. The latest sign of an IPO comes from Deep Robotics.
In early November, Deep Robotics completed its shareholding system reform, and its name was officially changed from "Hangzhou Deep Robotics Technology Co., Ltd." to "Hangzhou Deep Robotics Technology Co., Ltd. (a joint - stock company)". In addition, Zhu Qiuguo (co - founder and CEO of Deep Robotics), Li Chao (co - founder and CTO of Deep Robotics), and Hangzhou Kongjian Investment Management Partnership withdrew from the original list of investors. The company's directors and supervisors also changed.
Theoretically, the transformation from a limited liability company to a joint - stock company is a necessary preparation for a company to go public. In response to the media, a relevant person in charge of Deep Robotics said, "This shareholding reform is mainly due to the company's development needs and to complete the corresponding preliminary preparations."
According to public information, Deep Robotics has completed seven rounds of financing. The latest disclosure was in July this year, when it completed nearly 500 million yuan in financing, jointly led by Fortune Capital and Guoxin Fund, with follow - on investments from institutions such as Beijing Robot Industry Development Investment Fund, Qianhai Mother Fund, CCTV Media Convergence Fund, Fuzhe Fund, Huaying Capital, and Wuzhongda Investment.
The signal of an IPO has been released. The news we learned from the industry is that the term sheet (TS) for Deep Robotics' latest round of financing has far exceeded the quota. The general logic for investors to rush to get involved is that after Unitree, which may focus on humanoid robots, Deep Robotics has become the most worthy investment target in the robotic dog track. Moreover, Deep Robotics ranks second only to Unitree in terms of revenue, with an annual income of around several hundred million yuan.
A 1970s - born Zhejiang University doctor created a robotic dog
"He must be somewhere among these mountains, but the clouds are so deep I don't know where." The name "Deep Robotics" sounds rather low - key, but in today's primary market, this company cannot be ignored.
Deep Robotics was founded in 2017, which is a typical case of scientists starting a business. The founder, Dr. Zhu Qiuguo, graduated from the School of Control Science and Engineering at Zhejiang University, under the guidance of Professors Chu Jian and Xiong Rong. He has long been focused on the research of legged robot motion control based on model - based control. In 2017, he co - founded Deep Robotics with his colleague Li Chao from the Zhejiang University laboratory, aiming to create robot products with high - dynamic balance capabilities.
Several months after the company was founded, Deep Robotics launched its first self - developed quadruped robot, " Jueying". In 2018, it launched the first quadruped robot that can climb stairs, navigate autonomously, and perform intelligent interactions. Currently, Deep Robotics' product line includes quadruped, humanoid, and wheel - legged robots:
On the quadruped side, the "Jueying X30" for industrial scenarios has a maximum load capacity of 85 kg; the "Jueying Lite3" for education and scientific research supports gesture control with AR glasses and can achieve natural interaction in combination with large models; the industrial - grade waterproof model "Jueying X20" can operate continuously in complex environments.
On the wheel - legged side, the "Lynx M20" launched in April 2025 combines high - speed wheeled movement and legged obstacle - crossing capabilities, with a maximum speed of 2 m/s and an effective load capacity of 15 kg. It is specially designed for dangerous terrains such as emergency firefighting and logistics distribution. On the humanoid side, the laboratory version Dr.01 was launched in 2024, and an all - weather industrial - grade new product with a 10 - kg load capacity for both arms was launched in October 2025, targeting substation inspections and fire investigations.
After years of in - depth development in the B - to - B industry, Deep Robotics' robots are not just concepts. They have been applied in multiple industries such as electric power and energy, emergency firefighting, security patrol, education, and scientific research. In 2024, Singapore Power Group invited bids to find the most suitable robot for power inspections. Global leading enterprises such as Boston Dynamics participated, and the winning bidder was the "Jueying X30" robotic dog under Deep Robotics.
It is under the leadership of companies like Unitree and Deep Robotics that the domestic robotic dog industry has emerged from scratch. According to data from GGII (Gaogong Industry Research Institute), the sales volume of domestic civilian robotic dogs was less than 2,000 units in 2019, soaring to 18,000 units in 2023, with a compound annual growth rate of up to 94.4%. The market size has expanded from less than 100 million yuan in the initial stage to 755 million yuan in 2024, and it is expected to exceed 5 billion yuan by 2030.
When being interviewed by the media this year, Zhu Qiuguo revealed that Deep Robotics' revenue in 2024 more than doubled compared to 2023, and the robot shipment volume will reach the level of 10,000 units in 2025. The company has entered markets in the Asia - Pacific, the Middle East, Europe, and the United States.
Intensive IPOs of the six emerging companies
In addition to DeepSeek (the main company of DeepSeek, which is well - known for not lacking funds) and Deep Robotics, Unitree Technology, BrainCo Technology, and Qunhe Technology have also achieved results in the capital market this year.
After making a splash on the Spring Festival Gala at the beginning of the year, Unitree Technology has been advancing rapidly and has become an important representative of China's new technology narrative. In September, Unitree Technology announced on social media: "It is expected that the company will submit listing application documents to the stock exchange between October and December 2025, and the company's relevant operating data will be officially disclosed at that time."
In fact, Wang Xingxing revealed at the Summer Davos Forum in June that the company's annual revenue has exceeded 1 billion yuan. This revenue indicator places the company in the undisputed first echelon among humanoid and embodied AI companies.
Although the early financing was difficult, after humanoid robots became a consensus for capital investment, it is not easy to get a share of Unitree. The current investor lineup is already quite impressive, including well - known financial investors and industrial investors such as Shunwei Capital, First Capital, Shenzhen Capital Group, and Sequoia China. The latest news I heard is that Unitree is currently valued at 100 billion yuan.
BrainCo Technology, which just received tens of millions of dollars in investment, also spread the news of an IPO in August this year, with a valuation of over 1.3 billion US dollars. It is expected to launch an IPO in Hong Kong or the Chinese mainland. This company was founded in February 2015 and is the first unicorn enterprise in the domestic brain - computer interface field. It is also the first Chinese team to be selected into the Harvard Innovation Lab. In September this year, BrainCo Technology received an investment of 213 million yuan from Dowstone Technologies. In November, 37 Interactive Entertainment completed a 20 - million - dollar investment in BrainCo Technology.
Even earlier, Qunhe Technology submitted its prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in February this year, becoming the first company among the "six emerging companies" to start the listing process. This company targets the spatial intelligence track and is backed by well - known institutions such as IDG Capital, GGV Capital, Hearst Ventures, Shunwei Capital, and Linear Capital. In August, the updated prospectus showed that Qunhe Technology has turned losses into profits, with an adjusted net profit of 17.83 million yuan in the first half of the year.
State - owned capital provides support, and insurance funds increase investment
If there is a common point among the "six emerging companies in Hangzhou", it is that they have all been in a situation of "too early, too difficult, and uncertain" and have silently advanced on the long - term technological path. When short - term returns and visible growth become the mainstream judgment, the cutting - edge technology track is often regarded as "too early", "too difficult", and "uncertain". Take the fields of robots, AI, the metaverse, and brain science where the "six emerging companies in Hangzhou" are located as examples. The R & D cycle is long, the investment is high, and the commercialization path is not yet clear. Most of them have experienced a long winter.
A chat screenshot circulating in the venture capital circle this year is quite symbolic: In July 2019, an investor replied after receiving a business plan for "Unitree Technology", "This is a bit too early for us." Now, when investors start to reflect on "why they didn't invest in the'six emerging companies'", this reply serves as the most intuitive contrast.
State - owned capital has become a key driving force in the development of the six emerging companies. Take "Hangzhou Capital" behind Deep Robotics, Unitree Technology, and BrainCo Technology as an example. It operates two 100 - billion - level mother funds in Hangzhou. One is the Hangzhou Science and Technology Innovation Fund, which focuses on early - stage, small - scale, and technology - innovation investments; the other is the Hangzhou Innovation Fund, which focuses on strong, large - scale, and industrial investments.
Among them, a subsidiary fund under the Science and Technology Innovation Fund entered the angel round of Deep Robotics as early as 2018 and continued to increase its investment in 2019 and 2020. Since 2022, the subsidiary funds of the Science and Technology Innovation Fund and the Innovation Fund have completed four rounds of relay investments in Unitree Technology. BrainCo Technology's establishment in Hangzhou Future Science and Technology City from its Boston laboratory in the United States also started in 2018 when Hangzhou took the initiative to approach. Subsequently, the two funds completed "relay" investments at the early and key stages respectively.
State - owned capital is not the only one that chose to increase investment during the cold winter. Public information shows that at least 38 insurance institutions have appeared behind Unitree Technology, Deep Robotics, and BrainCo Technology.
At least 38 insurance institutions have appeared behind Unitree Technology, Deep Robotics, and BrainCo Technology. Among them, 27 insurance institutions have indirectly invested in Unitree Technology; 25 insurance institutions have indirectly invested in Deep Robotics; 14 insurance institutions appear in the shareholder lists of both companies, such as PICC Life Insurance, CPIC Life Insurance, Taikang Life Insurance, China Life Insurance, AIA Life Insurance, and China Post Insurance; China Life Health Industry Investment has also disclosed that its large - scale health - related funds have participated in the Series B financing of BrainCo Technology.
Insurance funds usually prefer mature projects with predictable returns and rarely invest in early - stage technological innovation. Wang Xiaohui, the Party secretary and general manager of Huaxia Jiuying Asset Management Co., Ltd., recently told the media, "In the hard - technology field, the technological iteration is fast and the professionalism is strong. The traditional investment research team lacks the ability to deeply understand the technological path and judge the industrialization prospects, resulting in a 'generation gap' in the understanding of hard technology." As insurance funds are willing to enter this field, an adjustment in perception and cycle is emerging, which is expected to become an important force in promoting the efficient transformation of financial momentum into technological and industrial potential.
This article is from the WeChat public account "China Venture Capital". Author: Wei Xianghui, Editor: Liu Yanqiu. Republished by 36Kr with permission.