Unitree Prices Shanghai IPO at 150.8 Yuan, Raises $849 Million as DeepSeek Invests $19.6 Million

China’s physical AI dream team takes shape as DeepSeek invests $19.6 million in Unitree

Unitree set to become the first humanoid robot maker listed on mainland China’s stock market

Company to direct IPO proceeds to robot research and development

DeepSeek-Unitree alliance targets the robot brain

China’s leading humanoid robot maker Unitree is heading for a domestic stock market listing with AI startup DeepSeek as a strategic investor. The tie-up brings together Unitree’s robot hardware and embodied intelligence technology with DeepSeek’s strength in AI models, underscoring how China is broadening competition in humanoids from manufacturing to physical AI.

Unitree sets IPO price at 150.8 yuan, raises 6.1 billion yuan

Unitree set the offer price for its initial public offering on Shanghai’s Star Market at 150.8 yuan a share and plans to raise 6.1 billion yuan ($849 million), Chinese media including Yicai and the Global Times reported on Aug. 6. The Star Market is the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s technology-focused board.

The company will issue about 40.446 million new shares, equal to 10% of its total share capital. That implies proceeds of about 6.1 billion yuan ($849 million) and a post-listing market capitalization of about 61 billion yuan ($8.49 billion).

Unitree had initially planned to raise about 4 billion yuan, but the deal size increased after strong institutional demand during bookbuilding. Its prospectus says the company will use the proceeds for research and development of smart robot models, robot bodies, new smart robots and construction of a robot fabrication facility.

The company said participation by strategic investors in the IPO should create a deeper environment for joint research and development. Founder and Chief Executive Officer Wang Xingxing holds 23.82% directly and 9.53% indirectly, for a combined pre-IPO stake of 33.35%, Yicai reported. At the offer price, that stake is worth about 18.3 billion yuan ($2.55 billion).

Unitree’s revenue last year rose 335% from a year earlier to 1.71 billion yuan ($238 million). Net profit increased 204% to 287.6 million yuan ($40 million). First-quarter revenue this year climbed 68.49% to 423 million yuan ($58.9 million), slowing from 332.64% growth in the same period last year because of base effects. The company projected first-half revenue of 1.052 billion yuan to 1.128 billion yuan, equivalent to about $146 million to $157 million.

Founded in 2016, Unitree drew attention this year after staging a more advanced martial arts performance than last year in a Lunar New Year television special tied to China’s biggest holiday. After filing for an IPO with the Shanghai Stock Exchange on March 20, the company passed the exchange’s listing review committee on June 1, setting a Star Market record with a 73-day process.

It then received approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission early in July. Unitree will begin online and offline subscriptions on Aug. 10, and the IPO is set to make it the first humanoid robot manufacturer listed on mainland China’s stock market. Another humanoid robot company, UBTech, is already listed in Hong Kong.

Unitree brings robots, DeepSeek brings AI

The market is also watching DeepSeek’s appearance on Unitree’s investor list.

A stock exchange filing released on Aug. 6 showed DeepSeek invested 140.8 million yuan ($19.6 million) in the IPO’s strategic allotment, securing 933,399 shares, or a 2.31% stake. The two companies also signed an agreement to jointly develop AI models for humanoid robots.

Under the agreement, the companies will combine DeepSeek’s AI models with Unitree’s embodied intelligence capabilities. A key clause gives Unitree priority consideration for DeepSeek when purchasing model training services and technical solutions, while DeepSeek will give Unitree priority consideration when buying robots. Both companies are based in Hangzhou.

Local industry participants say the partnership could accelerate projects that combine Unitree’s robot hardware with DeepSeek’s AI technology. The alliance comes as competition in humanoids shifts from form and motion performance toward the robot brain needed to understand real-world environments and act in them.

Chinese robot makers including Unitree have rolled out a series of low-cost humanoids capable of fixed actions such as walking, running and dancing. But they still lack the technology needed to understand human instructions and manipulate objects in unfamiliar environments.

DeepSeek drew attention for low-cost, high-performance AI models in coding, math and reasoning, though its core strength remains in language models. It has also released vision-language models including VL2, but has not integrated them into its main commercial lineup.

An industry official said the partnership is structured to fill gaps on both sides. Unitree will provide robots and physical-world data, while gaining priority access to DeepSeek’s training services in return. As Unitree deploys robots in real-world settings and DeepSeek applies AI capabilities to the resulting data, competition in China’s humanoid industry could expand from hardware to data and AI.

Kang Kyung-ju, Hankyung.com reporter qurasoha@hankyung.com