Capital Rushes to 'Underwater Unitree': HEU Alumni Lead Deep-Sea Robotics Funding

A wave of large-scale funding has struck the deep-sea robotics sector in mid-2026. Shihang Intelligent completed an over-1-billion-yuan Series A, reaching a unicorn valuation near 10 billion yuan. Shenhai Zhiren raised more than 500 million yuan in a Series A round, backed by leading investors such as Guanghua Ventures, Daochen Capital, GGV Capital, and Yida Capital, along with state-linked funds like CITIC Investment and CETC Investment. The TotalEnergies fund managed by Cathay Capital also joined. Gong Zhi Ocean secured nearly 100 million yuan in seed funding, setting a new record for the deep-sea field.

The common thread behind these three investments: all founders are alumni of Harbin Engineering University (HEU), known for its robust ship and ocean engineering programs. This convergence of capital highlights growing confidence in deep-sea robotics commercialization and the strategic importance of the sector.

Gong Zhi Ocean, founded in 2024 by HEU professor Guo Chunyu, is positioned as a potential "Huawei of the deep sea." Guo, now 45 (born in 1981), entered HEU at 18, earned his Ph.D. there, did postdoctoral work at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and University College London, then returned as a professor and deputy dean. The company has unveiled what it calls the world's first exploration-and-operation integrated deep-sea robot.

Shenhai Zhiren's Ma Yiming, who graduated from HEU in 2013 in naval architecture and ocean engineering, previously served as executive technical lead at an internationally renowned deep-sea robot company. He is recognized as China's first industrial talent to systematically introduce European and American deep-sea robot technologies and has contributed to multiple national standards. His career includes work on the world's first commercial deep-sea mining robot "Nautilus," an ultra-deepwater work-class ROV, and China's first heavy-duty seabed operation robot. Founded in 2023, Shenhai Zhiren targets offshore oil and gas, submarine communication, offshore wind, and deep-sea mining. It has captured most of the domestic commercial orders, with customers in dozens of countries including the UK, Netherlands, Norway, Brazil, Australia, and the UAE.

Shihang Intelligent's founder, Chen Xiaobo, built his first underwater cleaning robot as a sophomore in the underground lab of HEU's E-Wei Association. He later earned a First Prize for National Defense Science and Technology Progress at age 28. The company's robots can operate from the surface down to 10,000 meters, and its "Killer Whale" model achieves a work efficiency 70 times that of human labor. These products are now used on tens of thousands of ships worldwide, and orders in the first half of 2026 exceeded 1 billion yuan.

These success stories are rooted in HEU's academic strength. The university's "Three Seas One Nuclear" strategy covers shipbuilding, naval equipment, ocean development, and nuclear power applications. Its E-Wei Association has won the international underwater robot competition twice, reflecting a hands-on engineering culture. The naval architecture and ocean engineering discipline is part of the national "Double First-Class" initiative, underpinning a pipeline of entrepreneurial technical talent.

Harbin Engineering University (HEU) and Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), both based in Harbin, form a "twin star" of hard-tech entrepreneurship. HIT has spawned successes like Leju Intelligent, Stander Robotics, Woan Robotics (listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange), and RoboSense, which became the first Hong Kong IPO of 2024. HEU, in turn, now holds a near-monopoly in the deep-sea robotics sector.

Policy support is strong: the 2025 Government Work Report first listed "deep-sea technology" as a key strategic emerging industry, on par with commercial spaceflight and the low-altitude economy. The 15th Five-Year Plan (2026) further emphasizes accelerating the construction of a maritime power. The market reflects this momentum: sales data suggest the global subsea services market is worth about 1.5 trillion yuan, with an annual growth rate of over 20%. UBS estimates that deep-sea mineral resources could hold a total potential value of $177–280 trillion. Capital now sees a historic window as deep-sea robotics transitions from laboratory prototypes to industrial-scale products.