Half The Investment Community Owes Thanks To Unitree

At Xiaomi’s March 19 product launch, Lei Jun publicly thanked Wang Xingxing while standing beside him. The following day, March 20, the Shanghai Stock Exchange confirmed that Unitree Technology’s STAR Market IPO application had been formally accepted. The timing underscored Lei Jun’s prescience: an investment made five years earlier is now poised to become a widely coveted public equity.

According to IT Juzi data, by March 20, 2026, China’s robotics sector had recorded 207 financing events this year, including 133 rounds in humanoid robotics and 115 companies receiving funding. Among these early‑stage firms, Unitree is distinctive as the only company reporting profitability, with gross margins approaching 60%, leading global shipments of humanoid robots, and having formally initiated an A‑share listing process.

Unitree’s prospectus discloses that 2025 revenue reached approximately RMB 1.708 billion, a year‑on‑year increase of 335%, with adjusted net profit exceeding RMB 600 million and a proposed fundraising target of RMB 4.202 billion. The company achieved profitability in 2024, and its 2025 gross margin rose to 60.27%, with both humanoid and quadruped product lines delivering margins above 60% while many peers remain loss‑making or report margins below 30%. Of the planned RMB 4.2 billion raise, more than RMB 2 billion is earmarked for embodied large models and other core technologies, alongside capacity expansion to an annual output of 75,000 humanoid units and 115,000 quadrupeds.

While many competitors continue to consume investor capital to develop prototypes, Unitree has already sold 5,500 humanoid robots at an average selling price of RMB 167,600 while preserving a 62.9% gross margin. This outcome illustrates a fundamental dynamic of hard technology: the entity that first converts laboratory innovation into products that customers will purchase secures superior pricing power in the capital markets.

Unitree’s revenue composition reveals a deliberate product transition. In 2022 the company reported RMB 121 million in main business revenue, with quadruped robots accounting for 76.57% of sales, establishing Unitree’s early identity as a maker of robotic dogs. To date, Unitree has sold more than 30,000 quadrupeds, holding the global market lead and generating stable cash flow through scaled production. In August 2023, Unitree introduced its first full‑size humanoid H1, which sold only five units that year and contributed RMB 2.9671 million in revenue. The 2024 launch of the mid‑sized G1, priced from RMB 99,000, marked Unitree’s first humanoid designed for mass production and commercial deployment, and that year the company returned to profitability.

The pivotal shift occurred in 2025. Early in the year, 16 H1 humanoids performed a fully AI‑driven group dance on CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala in a program directed by Zhang Yimou, with founder Wang Xingxing personally supporting the presentation. The performance propelled humanoid robots into mainstream public attention. By the first three quarters of 2025, humanoid robot revenue reached RMB 595 million, representing 51.53% of total revenue and surpassing quadrupeds, which accounted for RMB 488 million or 42.25%. Humanoid unit sales totaled 3,551 in that period, 8.6 times the full‑year 2024 volume. The company’s humanoid average selling price declined from RMB 593,400 in 2023 to RMB 260,700 in 2024 and to RMB 167,600 in the first three quarters of 2025, a change Unitree attributes to both product mix and deliberate pricing adjustments intended to build long‑term competitive advantage. The strategy is to trade price competitiveness for scale, convert scale into data, and use data to accelerate technological iteration. This approach has already been validated in the quadruped market and is now being replicated in the humanoid segment.

Wang Xingxing has articulated ambitious goals beyond current milestones, asserting in public remarks that humanoid robots could surpass Usain Bolt’s speed by mid‑2026. Bolt’s 100‑meter world record of 9.58 seconds corresponds to roughly 10.4 meters per second, while Unitree’s H1 has recorded trial speeds exceeding 5 meters per second. Whether the ultimate target is achieved, Unitree has convinced the market that the possibility merits serious consideration.

The IPO’s market impact is amplified by a prominent shareholder roster. Founder Wang Xingxing holds 23.82% directly and 10.94% indirectly, and through a special voting arrangement controls 68.78% of voting rights. Institutional investors include Meituan‑affiliated entities (Hanhai Information, Galaxy Z, Chengdu Longzhu) with a combined stake of approximately 9.6488%, Sequoia China with about 7.1149%, and Matrix Partners with roughly 5.4528%. Notably, major internet players have also invested: Tencent Technology holds 0.5986%, while Alibaba‑affiliated and Ant Group‑affiliated entities appear among shareholders. Industrial investors such as BYD, Geely, China Mobile’s fund, the Beijing Robotics Industry Development Fund, Shenzhen Capital Group, and Jinshi Investment (a CITIC Securities affiliate) are also represented. This mix of strategic, state, and financial investors signals two key points: a broad consensus that robotics is a strategic, national‑level industry, and strong valuation premium potential for a market leader. At the close of Unitree’s 2025 C‑round, post‑money valuation exceeded RMB 10 billion, and expectations for IPO valuation are higher. Lei Jun’s early investment via Shunwei Capital is likely to yield substantial returns, explaining his public expression of gratitude.

Unitree is the first humanoid robotics company to formally submit an application to the STAR Market. More than 20 other robotics firms, including Leju Robotics, Yunshenchu, Stand, UAI Zhihe, Luoshi, Xian Gong Intelligent, Atom, Jiazhi Technology, Canop, and Jiuwu Intelligent, have announced listing intentions. Unitree’s filing on March 20, 2026, coincides with the company’s tenth anniversary and confers several implications. As the potential “first” humanoid robotics stock on the A‑share market, Unitree carries scarcity value; its offering price, price‑earnings multiple and market capitalization will set valuation anchors for subsequent entrants; and a successful IPO will create an exit pathway for early investors, likely invigorating follow‑on financing and M&A activity across the sector.

The prospectus candidly acknowledges technological constraints: embodied large‑model capabilities remain in research and testing globally, and Unitree has not yet scaled its proprietary general embodied models into mass‑market products during the reporting period. The company has, however, open‑sourced two embodied models, WMA and VLA, to position itself for future developments. Unitree frames robotic capability as a combination of a “small brain” for motion control and a “big brain” for perception, interaction and autonomous decision‑making. While its motion‑control systems are industry‑leading, cognitive capabilities are not yet mature; without a fully developed “big brain,” robots remain limited to executing preprogrammed tasks rather than autonomously understanding and planning within complex environments. The timing of breakthroughs in cognitive systems will determine whether general‑purpose robots transition from laboratory prototypes to widespread factory and household deployment and will influence Unitree’s post‑IPO valuation ceiling.

Across the broader robotics landscape, financing activity in 2026 has been intense. By March 20, the sector recorded 207 financing events, with humanoid robotics accounting for 133 rounds across 115 companies. High‑profile financings include Zhiyuan Robotics achieving a valuation above RMB 7 billion, Galaxy General Robotics completing a RMB 2.5 billion B+ round at a post‑money valuation of RMB 22.5 billion with participation from national funds and state‑backed investors, Lingchu Intelligent closing a RMB 2 billion Pre‑A round at an RMB 8 billion valuation, Pasini securing RMB 1 billion in a B round at a RMB 10 billion valuation, and Xingdong Jiyuan obtaining RMB 1 billion in strategic financing at a RMB 10 billion valuation. Even entertainment and consumer capital have entered the space; on March 18, robot‑leasing platform Qingtianzu completed an angel round with investors including Yuehua Entertainment and Mingjia Capital, reflecting the sector’s expanding appeal after humanoid robots gained visibility through high‑profile performances. Financing rounds are occurring earlier in company lifecycles, with many startups completing multiple rounds within months of founding as investors rush to secure exposure to promising projects.

Returning to Lei Jun’s public expression of thanks, the moment symbolized more than investor gratitude for a successful bet. It acknowledged Unitree’s role in validating humanoid robotics as a commercially viable sector and in creating the prospect of returns for early backers. Unitree’s IPO has expanded the A‑share market’s imagination for hard‑tech listings and paved the way for more than 20 queued companies. Challenges remain substantial: cognitive AI capabilities are still developing, international trade conditions are complex, and competition is intensifying, all of which Unitree discloses in its prospectus. Nevertheless, the market appears willing to price these risks because many investors regard embodied intelligence as the ultimate manifestation of AI. In his investor statement, Wang Xingxing wrote that 2026 marks Unitree Technology’s tenth anniversary and that the company has long pursued the goal of advancing society through technology; he framed the present moment as the eve of breakthroughs in AI and embodied intelligence. Given Unitree’s 2025 performance—5,500 units sold, RMB 1.7 billion in revenue and roughly 60% gross margins—the company has provided tangible evidence that this vision may be attainable.