Humanoid Robots Go Public: China’s Unitree Files $610M IPO Amid Surging Demand
Unitree Robotics, the Hangzhou-based startup that currently leads the world in humanoid sales, has officially filed for an initial public offering (IPO) on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s STAR Market.
The company is looking to raise roughly 4.2 billion yuan ($610 million), a move that will test whether investors believe these bipedal machines are ready for the real world or are still just high-tech toys.
While many robotics companies are known for burning through investor cash with no end in sight, Unitree is bucking the trend. The company reported a massive leap in its finances for 2025, with revenue hitting 1.71 billion yuan ($250 million), a 335% jump from the previous year.
More importantly, they are actually making money. Unitree posted an adjusted net profit of 600 million yuan ($90 million) in 2025. This stands in stark contrast to competitors like UBTech Robotics, which has reportedly operated at a loss for years.
One of the most impressive revelations in the 364-page prospectus is how fast Unitree is driving down costs. In 2023, one of their humanoid robots would have set you back about $85,000 (593,400 yuan). By last year, that average price had plummeted to $25,000 (167,600 yuan).
Usually, when prices drop that fast, profits disappear. However, Unitree’s profit margins actually improved to nearly 60%. The company credits this to its “full-stack, in-house” approach, meaning it builds its own core components rather than buying them from expensive third parties.
Who is actually buying these things?
While we often see videos of these robots doing backflips or dancing, they haven’t quite taken over the factory floor just yet. According to the filing, the vast majority of Unitree’s humanoid revenue—73.6%—comes from research and education sectors.
Only about 9% of their sales are currently for industrial applications. Most working humanoids are currently being used as high-tech tour guides or for brand demonstrations. Despite this, the company has big plans to scale, aiming to produce 75,000 humanoids and 115,000 four-legged quadruped robots annually over the next five years.
The filing also flags risks. Unitree said it is wary of “uncertainties surrounding trade policies and geopolitics” on raw materials it imports, which currently make up around 20% of its supply chain. Humanoid robots heavily depend on Nvidia’s chips and systems for computing capabilities.
The company’s most recent funding round in June 2025 valued it at 12.7 billion yuan. Analysts and market observers expect a post-IPO valuation north of 100 billion yuan, according to the South China Morning Post.
Unitree’s listing comes as competition in humanoid robotics intensifies. Billionaire Elon Musk said his company, Tesla, would start retail sales of its Optimus robots by the end of 2027.
But for now, China is moving fast to support its tech champions. If approved, Unitree’s IPO would be one of China’s biggest onshore tech listings in years and a test of whether investors are ready to bet on a future that, at least for one company, is already showing up in the bottom line.
Related reading: Robots just installed 100MW of solar power at a massive California project — signaling that AI-driven machines are officially moving from pilot tests to real-world energy infrastructure.
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