Chinese robot startup Unitree to file for IPO this year

[HANGZHOU] Hangzhou Unitree Technology said it will submit filings to list on a Chinese stock exchange as soon as next month, offering investors insight into the finances of one of the country’s most prominent robot developers.

Unitree will file documents on its business activities to the exchange between October and December, it said Tuesday (Sep 2) in a post on X, without elaborating on the venue of the listing. In July, it submitted a pre-listing application.

The Hangzhou-based company rose to fame in February after founder Wang Xingxing was pictured in the first row of a high-profile meeting hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping with some of the country’s best-known business leaders. Since then, Chinese robots have captured global attention, from running marathons to scoring financing deals. Wang said in June that the company’s annual revenue had passed one billion yuan (S$180.4 million).

Widespread adoption of two-legged consumer robots remains far off, but some Chinese companies including Shenzhen-based Leju Robotics and UBTech Robotics have deployed them at electric vehicle factories, where they move boxes and sort materials.

Unitree said it was committed to civil use of its products, distancing itself from videos that surfaced last year depicting the Chinese military using its robot dogs in drills.

The company also said it had fixed a security vulnerability in its Go1 dog robots following online reports about potential hacks, according to a separate statement on Tuesday. BLOOMBERG