A couple of Tsinghua University graduates who excelled in their studies started a business and are about to achieve an IPO.

Another robotics company is going to conduct an IPO.

Under the leadership of Gu Chunguang and Yang Yan, a couple of Tsinghua University graduates, Calyze Robotics, headquartered in Jiaxing, has recently approached the Hong Kong Stock Exchange again. With the support of a group of investors such as CICC Capital, Cornerstone Capital, China Merchants Capital, Tsinghua Holdings KINGSHINE Capital, and SF Express, the company has successfully completed up to Series E financing, reaching a valuation of 3.5 billion yuan.

As Calyze Robotics embarks on its IPO journey, the booming robotics industry is becoming even more vibrant. Recently, Medrobotics and Woan Robotics have gone public in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, RoboSense, LD Robot, and SEER have submitted their prospectuses in Hong Kong. Yushu Technology and Deep Robotics are also advancing their IPO plans, and Intelligence Yuan Robotics has completed its shareholding reform.

It's evident that this wave of enthusiasm is spreading across both the primary and secondary markets. Stocks of listed companies like Shangwei New Materials have witnessed continuous surges due to the robotics concept. The recent frequent financing news of startups such as Galaxy Universal and Deep Robotics has also attracted significant attention.

Led by a Tsinghua Couple, a Star Company Emerges from Jiaxing

Let's turn our attention to the protagonist of this article - Calyze Robotics. The story of this company begins with a couple of Tsinghua graduates.

Back in 1993, after graduating from Tsinghua University, Gu Chunguang and Yang Yan furthered their studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Cornell University in the United States respectively, and both obtained their doctoral degrees in 2000.

However, their early career paths diverged. Gu Chunguang chose fields such as supply chain management and logistics systems. He worked at i2 Technologies in the United States and McKinsey & Company (Shanghai) and also served as the Chief Technology Officer of Jiuzhitong Medicine. As for Yang Yan, she entered fields such as electrical and electronic engineering and worked as an engineer at companies like Aware Inc. in the United States and Infineon Technologies China.

During his tenure at Jiuzhitong Medicine, Gu Chunguang was fully responsible for businesses such as logistics, e-commerce, R & D, IT, and strategy. He also planned and established a professional logistics and information team. This significant experience not only equipped him with rich experience in logistics and supply chain but also laid the foundation for his future entrepreneurial journey.

After Amazon acquired Kiva in 2012, AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) quickly entered the market spotlight. Recognizing the immense value and market potential in the intelligent logistics field, Gu Chunguang and his wife Yang Yan came to Wuxi to start their business in 2014 and established Calyze Robotics Wuxi, a wholly - owned subsidiary of Calyze Robotics, in the local area.

Starting with logistics robots, they chose to develop the four - way shuttle, a product with extremely high R & D difficulty. Although this product has extremely high requirements for positioning accuracy, control, and software system scheduling, Gu Chunguang firmly believes that the more difficult the task, the more valuable the outcome. Eventually, in 2014, Calyze Robotics successfully developed China's first four - way shuttle independently.

To better seize the opportunities brought by the transformation and upgrading of the logistics industry, Calyze Robotics relocated its headquarters to Jiaxing in 2016 and was incubated at the Yangtze River Delta Institute of Tsinghua University in Zhejiang. As the first innovation platform jointly built by a provincial government and a university in Zhejiang Province, the institute aims to promote the educational and scientific research undertakings of Tsinghua University and the overall development of science, technology, society, and economy in Zhejiang Province and the Yangtze River Delta region.

The support from the local community and Tsinghua alumni has also propelled the rapid development of Calyze Robotics. On the basis of successfully developing the four - way shuttle independently, they have not only created multi - directional shuttle robots (MSR), autonomous mobile robots (AMR), and conveying and sorting robots (CSR) but also applied their products to industries such as automotive, new energy, 3C, medicine, e - commerce, and retail.

With the continuous improvement of products and the expansion of application scenarios, the company has been deeply exploring the Chinese market while vigorously expanding overseas markets. Since 2019, in the process of promoting international business, they have gradually extended their reach to 16 countries and regions in Asia - Pacific, Europe, North America, and the Middle East.

Under the leadership of Chairman Gu Chunguang and Deputy General Manager Yang Yan, Calyze Robotics has achieved cumulative revenues and net losses of approximately 2.478 billion yuan and 762 million yuan respectively in the 45 months starting from 2022. After more than a decade of development, they have finally grown into a star enterprise in Jiaxing and are once again aiming for the Hong Kong stock market.

Series E Financing Completed, Valued at 3.5 Billion Yuan

With the support of numerous investors, Calyze Robotics has successfully completed up to Series E financing.

In August 2014, they completed a Series A financing of 22 million yuan, with investors including DCM Capital, Cezheng Investment, and Malai Venture Capital, an investment institution affiliated with Tsinghua University. In the year after relocating the headquarters to Jiaxing, the company not only received an investment of 67.5 million yuan from Wuyuefeng Venture Capital but also acquired some intelligent logistics - related businesses of Jiuzhitong Medicine through a share - swap.

After the launch of the HS series of high - speed elevators and the third - generation multi - lever four - way tote MSR in 2018, Calyze Robotics also received 220 million yuan from Yuanhe Zhongyuan, SF Express, Fangguang Capital, Yicun Capital, Wanlin International, and Huagai Capital in the same year. One year later, their annual revenue reached tens of millions of yuan after expanding overseas.

Yang Yan played an important role in the company's early - stage financing. Although she is currently mainly responsible for brand management, supervision of public relations, industrial development planning, and external strategic cooperation, in the early days of Calyze Robotics, she was in charge of investment, financing, and board affairs.

By 2020, the company had delivered multiple large - scale system integration projects for customers in industries such as medicine, e - commerce, footwear and apparel, beauty, and 3C. In April of the same year, they completed a Series D financing of 300 million yuan, with investors including CICC Capital, Yuanhe Zhongyuan, Suzhou Minhang Investment, Yicun Capital, Huagai Capital, and Industrial Securities Guoxin Asset Management.

As the leading investor in the Series D financing, CICC Capital believed at that time that the demand for intelligent upgrading of China's logistics equipment was strong, and Calyze Robotics, as a leading company in the domestic intelligent warehousing field, had obvious first - mover advantages and an experienced team.

Half a year later, Calyze Robotics completed a Series D + financing with investments from China Merchants Innovation, Guangdong Sanjie, and Guyu Capital, which has a close relationship with SF Express. After receiving 231 million yuan, they subsequently launched products such as the AMR series with SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) hybrid navigation and the four - way pallet MSR.

In November 2022, with the support of Cornerstone Capital, China Merchants Capital, Yangzijiang Pharmaceutical Group, Jiansheng Capital, Tsinghua Holdings KINGSHINE Capital, Nanhu Financial Holding, Jiaxing Science City Investment, and Xinglian Investment, Calyze Robotics completed a Series E financing of approximately 278 million yuan, and its valuation reached 3.5 billion yuan.

The reason why Cornerstone Capital chose to be the leading investor is as follows: on the one hand, Calyze Robotics' core team has rich industry experience, excellent academic and industrial backgrounds, and the ability to develop and commercialize core products; on the other hand, Calyze Robotics is a rare enterprise in the industry that can provide and implement overall logistics and warehousing solutions. It has the ability to independently research, develop, and produce a complete set of core hardware and software, as well as rich experience in overall solution planning and implementation.

During the development of Calyze Robotics, investors such as Junshi Venture Capital, Guangzhou Dacanshan, Jiaxing Nanhu State - owned Group, Jiaxing Yukai, and Shanghai Zhiyoumaite became shareholders of the company by purchasing existing shares.

Before the IPO, CICC Capital holds 10.15% of the shares, making it the largest external shareholder of Calyze Robotics. Based on the rough valuation of 3.5 billion yuan, the value of CICC Capital's shares is approximately 355 million yuan.

As Calyze Robotics goes public in Hong Kong, these investors who have accompanied them all the way will also reap the rewards.

The Crazy Robotics Industry: Queuing for IPOs and Flocking for Financing

Calyze Robotics' move to go public has undoubtedly added fuel to the already bustling robotics industry.

Not long ago, Medrobotics and Woan Robotics went public in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, RoboSense, LD Robot, and SEER have also submitted their prospectuses in Hong Kong. In addition, Yushu Technology has completed the listing guidance, Intelligence Yuan Robotics has completed its shareholding reform, and Deep Robotics has initiated the listing guidance.

While robotics companies are queuing up for IPOs, the stock prices of many listed companies in the secondary market have soared due to the robotics concept. A typical example is Shangwei New Materials. After Intelligence Yuan Robotics announced the acquisition of this Sci - Tech Innovation Board company on July 8, 2025, its stock price skyrocketed, rising more than 15 times by the end of 2025.

The primary market is equally crazy. According to incomplete statistics, in December 2025 alone, there were more than 30 robotics - related financing events in China. Among them, Galaxy Universal's over - 300 - million - US - dollar financing has refreshed the single - round financing record for embodied intelligence, and its self - valuation has exceeded 20 billion yuan.

Deep Robotics also deserves special attention. After completing a Series C financing of over 500 million yuan, the company completed a Pre - IPO financing of hundreds of millions of yuan half a month later. This means that, with the enthusiastic support of investors, they completed two rounds of financing in December 2025.

As time goes by, driven by factors such as technology, products, market, policies, and capital, embodied intelligence companies are accelerating mass production and commercial implementation and are beginning to integrate into various industries more quickly. Calyze Robotics also mentioned that in - field logistics robots are gradually developing towards embodied intelligence.

According to the prediction of the GGII Humanoid Robot Research Institute, in 2025, the shipments of humanoid robots from Intelligence Yuan Robotics and Yushu Technology will exceed 5,100 units and 4,800 units respectively. As previously revealed by Deep Robotics, their robot shipments in 2025 will reach the level of 10,000 units.

However, behind the excitement, hidden concerns have emerged.

In November 2025, the National Development and Reform Commission stated that there are currently more than 150 humanoid robot companies in China, with more than half being startups or companies entering the field from other industries. While encouraging innovation, efforts should also be made to prevent the over - concentration of listings of highly - similar products.

Recently, news about Yushu Technology's listing has been circulating in the market. In response, Yushu Technology stated that the company is not involved in matters related to applying for a "green channel." "Currently, Yushu Technology's listing work is progressing normally, and relevant progress will be disclosed in accordance with laws and regulations."

Although there are differences in the market, the enthusiasm for embodied intelligence continues and will become a new economic growth point. However, when most of the funds flow to a small number of leading companies, the remaining players will face greater challenges. Whether they can obtain sufficient funds at the right time is crucial for their development and even survival.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Dongsi Shitiao Capital" (ID: DsstCapital), written by Lu Zhigao and edited by Wang Qingwu, and is published by 36Kr with authorization.