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Backed by DeepSeek, Unitree IPO tests investor appetite for China’s AI robotics boom
DeepSeek, which invested 141 million yuan, will co-develop AI models and embodied-intelligence technology with Unitree
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Wency Chenin ShanghaiPublished: 12:23pm, 7 Aug 2026Updated: 12:52pm, 7 Aug 2026The long-awaited initial public offering of Unitree Robotics, which values the Hangzhou-based firm at 60.99 billion yuan (US$9 billion), is set to serve as a valuation benchmark for China’s booming embodied-AI sector, buoyed by retail investor excitement and high-profile AI backers like DeepSeek.
Widely billed as “mainland China’s first humanoid stock”, Unitree has priced its IPO on Shanghai’s Star Market at 150.8 yuan per share, according to a filing released Thursday evening. The firm will sell 40.45 million new shares to raise 6.1 billion yuan – above its initial 4.2 billion yuan target.
Backers including AI unicorn DeepSeek and tech giant Tencent Holdings joined the strategic placement, alongside state-backed giants China National Petroleum Corp, China Southern Power Grid, China Telecom, Citic Securities and the National Council for Social Security Fund.
DeepSeek, which invested 141 million yuan bound by a three-year lock-up period, agreed to co-develop AI models and embodied-intelligence technology with Unitree. The two firms would also give each other priority access in areas such as robot procurement and AI model services, Unitree said.
A valuation ‘ceiling’
Unitree’s IPO would serve as a valuation anchor – and effectively the ceiling – for other companies in the embodied-intelligence space, said Zheng Hualiang, founder of Leap VC, a Hangzhou-based venture capital firm investing in AI hardware and foundational models.
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