Unitree Goes Public: The World's No.1 Humanoid Robot Maker Just Got the Green Light

A ¥4.2B raise, a ¥42B valuation, the fastest-ever STAR Market approval — and what it all means for the global robotics industry.

July 6, 2026  ·  4 min read

On July 2, China's securities regulator approved Unitree Robotics' IPO registration on the Shanghai STAR Market. If all goes as planned, Unitree will become the first publicly traded humanoid robot company on China's A-share market — with a listing expected by late July.

From robot dogs to humanoids: an 8-year path

Unitree was founded in Hangzhou in 2016 — same year as Boston Dynamics' Spot. The first product was a quadruped robot, and by the time Unitree entered the humanoid race in 2023, it had already shipped over 30,000 quadrupeds worldwide. That experience gave it something most humanoid startups don't have: a proven supply chain and real manufacturing volume.

In both 2025 and 2026, Unitree's humanoid robots appeared on China's CCTV Spring Festival Gala — watched by over a billion viewers. In two years, it went from unknown startup to national name recognition.

• 2016Founded in Hangzhou; focused on quadruped robots
• 2022Revenue: ¥123M; net loss
• 2023Revenue: ¥159M; net loss; entered humanoid robot market
• 2024Revenue: ¥392M; first profitable year — ¥94.5M net profit
• 2025.06Private funding round; post-money valuation ¥12.7B
• 2025Revenue: ¥1.69B; net profit ¥278M; 5,500+ humanoid units shipped
• 2026.03.20SSE accepted IPO application
• 2026.06.01Listing committee approved
• 2026.07.02  CSRC approved registration
• Late Jul 2026Expected listing date

The numbers that actually matter

Two numbers stand out: 335% revenue growth and 60.27% hardware gross margin. In hardware, margins above 60% are extremely rare. Unitree isn't winning on price dumping — it's winning on product definition and supply chain efficiency.

Q1 profit dipped 47.7% year-over-year — but that's R&D and marketing spend scaling ahead of the listing, not a fundamental problem.

World's #1 in humanoid shipments

Global market share of 32.4% in 2025. The absolute number is modest — the whole industry is still in five figures — but the point is that mass production capability has been verified. In humanoid robotics, that's harder than any tech demo.

Also notable: Unitree was historically export-heavy, but domestic China revenue surpassed exports in 2025. The Chinese market itself is now the growth engine.

A key node in NVIDIA's ecosystem

Unitree is a core partner on NVIDIA's Isaac GR00T reference platform — the foundation model + simulation + toolchain ecosystem NVIDIA is building for general-purpose humanoid robots. That means Unitree isn't just a user of this ecosystem; it's a co-definer.

Where the ¥4.2B is going

Why this IPO matters beyond Unitree

1. It sets the valuation anchor. At roughly ¥42B with a ~25x price-to-sales multiple, Unitree's IPO gives a reference point for the ~150 robotics startups in China seeking their own funding rounds. Global robotics valuations will recalibrate around this number.

2. It proves hardware profitability is real. Two consecutive years of net profit, 60% hardware margins — this breaks the narrative that "robot companies can't make money in the near term."

3. It opens the exit path. After Unitree, Deep Robotics, Leju Robotics, and others are advancing their own listings. A sector's first public company accelerates the entire pipeline.

4. The policy signal is unambiguous. A 104-day review — the fastest in STAR Market history — and immediate CSRC approval. This is what "new quality productive forces" looks like in capital markets. Humanoid robotics has been formally elevated to a national industrial priority.

An IPO is just a milestone, not the destination. But when the world's largest humanoid robot manufacturer goes public — backed by NVIDIA, shipping more units than anyone else, and posting real profits — the signal is clear: the humanoid robot industry just graduated from science project to industrial sector.