Unitree Robotics Wins Approval for STAR Market IPO

Unitree Robotics, China’s leading humanoid and quadruped robot manufacturer, has received regulatory approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) for its initial public offering on Shanghai’s STAR Market, bringing one of the country’s most prominent robotics companies closer to a public listing. The company aims to raise approximately 4.2 billion yuan ($618 million) at a valuation of roughly 42 billion yuan (~$6.2 billion), according to Caixin Global.

A Rapid Path to Listing

The CSRC approved Unitree’s IPO registration on July 2, 2026, after receiving the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s review opinion and the company’s registration documents. The approval came just 104 days after the application was accepted on March 20, 2026, making it one of the fastest IPO approvals on the STAR Market — a testament to the regulatory fast-track treatment for high-quality technology companies under the CSRC’s pilot pre-review mechanism.

Unitree was the second company to file under this mechanism, which was introduced in June 2025 to accelerate listings for China’s “hard tech” enterprises. The listing committee had cleared the application on June 1, just 73 days after acceptance. CITIC Securities is serving as the lead underwriter.

Financial Trajectory and Growth

Unitree’s financial performance has been remarkable. The company turned profitable in 2024 with net income of 94.5 million yuan, and by 2025, net profit had surged to 278 million yuan on revenue of 1.699 billion yuan — a more than fourfold increase from 393 million yuan in 2024. Gross margins on core businesses reached 60.13%, reflecting the company’s cost advantage from self-developing and manufacturing core components.

According to Rest of World, Unitree shipped approximately 5,500 humanoid robots in 2025, accounting for roughly a third of global humanoid robot sales. Humanoid robots now represent more than half of the company’s revenue, a dramatic shift from 2023 when they made up just 1.9% of the business. Over 70% of the humanoids sold last year were for research and educational purposes.

In the first quarter of 2026, revenue reached 423 million yuan, up 68.49% year-over-year, though net profit declined approximately 52.55% due to increased spending on research and development and marketing. The company forecasts H1 2026 revenue of 1.052–1.128 billion yuan, representing 35.62–45.41% growth.

From Quadruped Roots to Humanoid Dominance

Founded in 2016 by Wang Xingxing, a post-90s entrepreneur who developed his first quadruped robot, XDog, as his master’s thesis project at Shanghai University, Unitree initially specialized in consumer quadruped robots. The company gained international recognition in 2021 with the release of the Go1 robot dog, competing with Boston Dynamics’ Spot at a fraction of the cost.

As Wikipedia notes, the company entered the humanoid robot market in 2024 with the H1, followed by the more affordable G1 priced at approximately $16,000. Unitree’s robots have performed on CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala and were showcased at CES 2025 in Las Vegas. NVIDIA has named Unitree’s H2 Plus body as the hardware foundation for its GR00T Reference Humanoid Robot platform for academic research.

Investor Backing and Market Position

Wang Xingxing holds a 23.82% direct stake with 68.78% voting rights, maintaining firm control over the company. Major investors include Meituan-backed entities (9.65%, the largest external shareholder), Sequoia China (HongShan), Tencent, Alibaba, Ant Group, Matrix Partners, and Shunwei Capital. The company employs approximately 500 people, with 175 working in research and development.

Unitree operates in a rapidly evolving competitive landscape. Shanghai-based rival AGIBOT produced its 10,000th humanoid robot in March 2026 and is pursuing a public listing through a backdoor acquisition. TrendForce forecasts a 94% surge in Chinese humanoid output for 2026, with Unitree and AGIBOT projected to capture nearly 80% of domestic shipments. Tesla’s Optimus is named as a material competitive risk in Unitree’s prospectus.

Geopolitical Headwinds

The IPO proceeds at a time of intensifying geopolitical scrutiny. In June 2026, the US Department of Defense added Unitree to its list of Chinese military-linked companies, following a May 2025 request from the US House Select Committee on China to investigate the company’s alleged ties to PLA-affiliated institutions. The American Security Robotics Act, introduced in March 2026, would bar federal agencies from purchasing Chinese-made humanoid robots.

Professor Hu Qimu of the Maritime Silk Road Institute of Huaqiao University noted that the approval “marks the company officially opening the door to the capital market. It will raise a substantial amount of long-term equity capital through its IPO for research and development,” as reported by state media.

What’s Next

The exact IPO price and listing date have not yet been announced. Registration approval means Unitree can proceed with the issuance, but the final pricing and trading debut remain to be determined. The listing will serve as a bellwether for investor appetite in the humanoid robotics sector, with implications for other Chinese robotics companies — including Deep Robotics, Leju Robotics, and Galbot — that are also pursuing public listings.

As China’s first “embodied AI” company to be cleared for the A-share market, Unitree’s market debut will be closely watched as an indicator of whether the sector’s technological promise can translate into sustainable public-market value.