Unitree Robotics, the Hangzhou-based humanoid robot maker, is set to begin trading on Shanghai's STAR Market on August 19 after raising 6.1 billion yuan ($905 million) in an IPO that was oversubscribed more than 8,000 times by retail investors — a record for the exchange6,4. The listing makes Unitree the first humanoid robot manufacturer to trade on a mainland Chinese exchange3.
The company priced 40.45 million shares at 150.80 yuan ($22.37) each, representing 10 percent of post-IPO share capital and implying a market capitalization of approximately 61 billion yuan ($9 billion)1,8,11. The IPO process moved at unusual speed: Unitree's listing application was accepted on March 20, registration took effect on July 2, and the full review took 104 days, the fastest since the STAR Market's pre-review mechanism was implemented.
Strategic investors in the offering include Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Basic Technology Research Co., which was allocated 933,400 shares worth approximately 141 million yuan with a 36-month lock-up period. Other strategic shareholders include the National Social Security Fund, CNPC Kunlun Capital, China Southern Power Grid Industry Finance, Tianyi Capital, Shanghai Qishan Investment (under Tencent), and CITIC Securities. Unitree has also received backing from Alibaba and Meituan, and announced a research and development partnership with Nvidia in June.
Unitree's revenue grew from 159 million yuan in 2023 to 393 million yuan in 2024 and 1.7 billion yuan ($252 million) in 2025 — a more than tenfold increase over two years13. Adjusted net profit swung from a loss of 18 million yuan to a gain of approximately 591 million yuan over the same period. Humanoid robots generated 868 million yuan in 2025 revenue, overtaking quadruped robots to become Unitree's largest business segment at roughly 52 percent of sales. The company shipped more than 5,500 humanoid robots in 2025, claiming a 32.4 percent global market share and the top position worldwide. Overseas sales accounted for more than 40 percent of revenue in each disclosed reporting period, with the U.S. market representing 13.3 percent of sales.
First-quarter 2026 revenue reached 422.8 million yuan, up 68.5 percent year-over-year, though profit excluding one-off items fell 52.6 percent to 40.3 million yuan. Unitree projects first-half 2026 revenue of between 1.05 billion and 1.13 billion yuan.
Unitree plans to invest approximately 4.2 billion yuan of IPO proceeds across four projects: embodied AI model research and development, robot hardware development, new intelligent robot products, and an expanded manufacturing base targeting annual output of 75,000 humanoid and 115,000 quadruped robots.
On August 17, the company unveiled a humanoid robot dubbed "Superman," which it said can jump two meters high and run at 12.66 meters per second. Unitree also recently launched a modular humanoid robot starting at $4,290 with up to 31 degrees of freedom.
The listing arrives amid regulatory headwinds: in June, Unitree was added to a U.S. list of Chinese enterprises linked to the military sector, and Washington subsequently banned new imports of humanoid and quadruped robots from foreign manufacturers. Unitree said its existing robots have received FCC authorization and can remain on the U.S. market.
On decentralized exchange Hyperliquid, pre-IPO perpetual futures contracts traded between $92 and $94 per share ahead of the listing, implying a valuation near $38 billion — roughly four times the IPO price10. The debut is expected to set a valuation benchmark for the sector, with industry sources telling Caixin it could shape the pricing of 30 to 50 peers preparing listings in Hong Kong. Competitors Leju Robotics and AgiBot are pursuing listings in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, respectively.
ANALYSIS Unitree's combination of rapid revenue growth, profitability, and volume shipments distinguishes it from most humanoid robotics peers that remain pre-revenue or pre-profit, which may partly explain the extreme retail demand. The gap between the IPO valuation and the Hyperliquid-implied price signals significant speculative interest beyond the regulated offering.