Chinese humanoid robot maker Unitree prices IPO at $9 billion valuation 

BEIJING/SHANGHAI/SINGAPORE, Aug 6 (Reuters) – China’s Unitree has priced its Shanghai initial public offering at 150.8 yuan ($22.34) per share, valuing the company at around 61 billion yuan ($9.04 billion), it said on Thursday, in a deal that would make it the country’s first mainland-listed maker of humanoid robots.

In a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Unitree, also known as Yushu Technology, said it was seeking to raise 6.1 billion yuan. The potential valuation at the time of listing is above an earlier target of up to 50 billion yuan reported by Reuters in September.

The IPO comes as the United States and China ratchet up trade ​and technology tensions, with Washington tightening Chinese access to U.S. technology and markets – including the imposition of new restrictions on foreign-made humanoid and four-legged robots – and Beijing responding with export curbs and sanctions on selected U.S. entities.

Unitree has said its existing humanoid and four-legged robots, known for their running, dancing and acrobatic displays, have U.S. approvals, but future models could be barred from sale there.

The Hangzhou-based company is selling 40.45 million new shares, or 10% of its enlarged share capital, on Shanghai’s STAR Market, according to its sale prospectus.

Chinese AI company DeepSeek is among the strategic investors in Unitree’s IPO, according to Thursday’s filing.

IPO subscriptions are due to open on August 10 and Unitree plans to use the proceeds to develop robot software and hardware, launch new products and build a manufacturing base, the prospectus showed. 

U.S. SALES RISK

U.S. sales accounted for 13.3% of Unitree’s revenue last year, according to the prospectus. It said that U.S. tariffs, limits on government purchases, export controls or the loss of existing approvals could hurt overseas growth and disrupt supplies of imported parts.

Overall revenue more than quadrupled to 1.7 billion yuan in 2025 with humanoid robots generating 867.8 million yuan in sales and overtaking four-legged robots as Unitree’s largest business, according to the prospectus. 

But growth has slowed this year. First-quarter revenue rose 68.5% to 422.8 million yuan, but profit excluding one-off items fell 52.6% to 40.3 million yuan as Unitree increased spending on research and marketing.

($1 = 6.7488 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom, Samuel Shen in Shanghai and Yantoultra Ngui in Singapore; Editing by Louise Heavens, Kirsten Donovan)