Unitree Becomes First Humanoid Robot Company to Go Public in China
Unitree Robotics made its market debut on the STAR Market of the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Wednesday, trading under the ticker 688836.SH. The listing coincided with the opening of the 2026 World Robot Conference in Beijing, underscoring the industry's transition from research labs and exhibitions to capital markets and commercial competition.
The company priced its initial public offering at RMB 150.80 ($22.41) per share, issuing 40,446,434 new A-shares. The IPO raised approximately RMB 6.099 billion ($910 million) in total proceeds.
Unitree did not initially focus on humanoid robots. When founder Wang Xingxing established the company in 2016 after leaving a university laboratory, China's quadruped robot market was still nascent.
Quadruped robots were relatively easier to develop and commercialize in terms of mechanical design, motion control, and practical applications. Unitree chose this path, launching the Go, A, and B series robots and gradually expanding into research, education, and industrial inspection.
This strategy provided an early product and revenue base. From 2022 to 2025, revenue from the quadruped robot business grew from RMB 92.82 million ($13.79 million) to RMB 698 million ($103.72 million), establishing a foundation for commercial growth before the humanoid robot trend emerged.
Humanoid robots later transformed Unitree's growth trajectory. In 2023, revenue from humanoid robots was just RMB 2.96 million ($440,000), accounting for less than 2% of total revenue. By 2025, this figure had surged to RMB 868 million ($128.98 million), representing over 51% of total revenue, making humanoid robots the primary growth driver.
Products like the H1 and G1 helped Unitree evolve from a robot demonstrator into a robotics product company. Previously, a robot that could walk or run was enough to attract attention at exhibitions, but commercialization requires reliable production, consistent sales, and sustainable revenue.
Unitree has made relatively fast progress in this regard. In 2025, the company generated RMB 1.699 billion ($250 million) in revenue and RMB 278 million ($41.31 million) in net profit attributable to shareholders. This demonstrates a degree of commercial viability, especially when many humanoid robot companies are still operating at a loss, and provides a foundation for its entry into capital markets.
The IPO also arrives at a crucial time for the industry. In 2026, the focus is shifting from whether robots can be built to whether they can be practically deployed. Automakers, robotics firms, and AI companies are pushing toward mass production and real-world application, with the market paying closer attention to product capabilities, cost control, and the ability to scale production and delivery.
The listing of a robotics company with actual products, revenue, and profitability offers a concrete reference point for investors seeking to understand this rapidly developing industry.
Going public, however, does not mean Unitree has won the next round of competition. The biggest challenge ahead may not be selling more robots but making them smarter.
Over the past decade, Unitree's strengths have largely been in mechanical design, motors, motion control, and robot hardware. As humanoid robots enter commercial deployment, hardware alone may not create a long-term competitive advantage.
Robots ultimately need to understand the real world, make decisions based on their surroundings, and perform tasks not explicitly programmed in advance. Competition is therefore moving beyond the robot's body and toward its brain.
Following its IPO, Unitree is expected to increase investment in areas such as embodied AI foundation models. For a company that started in a university laboratory, going public marks the completion of one stage rather than the end of the journey.
Over the past decade, Unitree has demonstrated it can build robots, sell them, and generate meaningful revenue at scale. The next question is whether it can translate its hardware advantage into AI capabilities and remain competitive in the next stage of embodied AI.
This may ultimately be more important than simply being the first humanoid robot company to go public on China's A-share market.