DeepSeek-backed Chinese Unitree Launches Subscription for IPO, Becoming the First Humanoid Robot Maker on the Mainland

Chinese humanoid robotics leader Unitree Robotics launched public subscription for its initial public offering (IPO) on the 10th.
The final offering price was set at 150.8 yuan per share, or about 32,000 won. The company is offering 40,446,434 shares, equal to 10% of its total issued shares. The allotment probability is estimated at 0.02% to 0.03%.
The company expects to raise 6.1 billion yuan, or about 128 billion to 130 billion won, through the issuance of new shares. It is expected to make its official debut on the SSE STAR Market, the technology board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, as early as around the 14th. Unitree Robotics will become the first humanoid robot company listed on China’s A-share market.
Based on the offering price, Unitree Robotics is expected to have a post-listing market capitalization of about 61 billion yuan, or roughly 12.5 trillion won. Some expectations suggest its market value could rise to nearly 40 trillion won. Investors are watching closely, especially as the average first-day gain for new listings in China this year has reached 276%.
Local media reported that millions of retail investors rushed to subscribe shortly after the market opened, drawn by the symbolic appeal of what was described as the first listed general-purpose humanoid robot company on the A-share market. Institutional and strategic investors also poured in funds, pushing institutional competition ratios into the thousands to one.
Founder Wang Xingxing, who holds a 33.3% stake, along with Meituan, a Chinese e-commerce platform company, with 9.65%, and Sequoia China and HongShan Capital Group with 7.12%, participated as key investors alongside DeepSeek, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) startup. Other institutional investors included the National Social Security Fund of China, China Telecom, Shenzhen Capital Group, Zhongxin Jinshi Investment, Beijing Zhongguancun Science City, and the Beijing Technology Cluster Fund.
DeepSeek received a strategic allocation of 140.8 million yuan, or about 30 billion won, for 933,399 shares, representing 2.31%.
Unitree Robotics said it and DeepSeek agreed to cooperate in three advanced areas: AI model development for robots, high-performance general-purpose robots, and large language models (LLM). The two companies also signed a memorandum of strategic cooperation covering the integration of DeepSeek’s AI models and computing infrastructure into Unitree robots.
Founded in 2016, Unitree Robotics is one of the global humanoid robot industry’s most advanced companies in terms of commercialization. Last year, it produced the most humanoid robots in the world, with 5,716 units. Net profit rose about 200% from a year earlier to 278.21 million yuan, or about 58 billion won. With a price-to-earnings ratio of 219 times based on the offering price, a key point to watch will be how the company addresses concerns that growth expectations for humanoid robots have been overly reflected in its valuation.
[email protected] Lee Seok-woo Reporter