On December 23, 2025, Hangzhou Cloud Deep Technology Co., Ltd., one of the "Hangzhou Six Little Dragons," submitted its IPO counseling filing, with China Securities Co., Ltd. acting as the counseling institution, aiming to complete related work before June 2026.
The path for embodied intelligence from a buzzword to an industrial frontier was already crowded, and now it faces an even more practical barrier: profitability and commercialization.
From the submission of the counseling filing, Cloud Deep Technology has reached a critical juncture in its capitalization journey. The company's success story is rich with material. It began as a campus startup at Zhejiang University in 2017, focusing on technological innovation and industrial applications of embodied intelligence, expanding its product portfolio from "quadrupeds" to "wheel-legged + humanoid" robots, while continuously refining and deploying them in B2B scenarios such as power utilities, emergency response, and security. Its "Jueying" series holds strong market recognition; the Jueying X20, as China's first industrial-grade waterproof quadruped robot, has been routinely deployed in multiple substations of the State Grid and China Southern Power Grid. In 2025, the company launched the wheel-legged robot "Shanmao M20," emphasizing mobility efficiency in complex terrains like rugged mountain paths, muddy wetlands, and debris-filled obstacle zones. In October of the same year, it introduced the DR02, claimed as the world's first industry-grade all-weather humanoid robot, attempting to transition humanoids from controlled environments into more complex operational scenarios.
According to DC data, the global market size for quadruped robots in 2024 was approximately $180 million, with shipments around 20,000 units. Cloud Deep Technology captured an 18.9% market share, ranking second globally, trailing only Unitree Technology's 32.4%. If an industrial narrative requires a concrete anchor point, this data firmly positions Cloud Deep Technology within the industry hierarchy.
While product development and order fulfillment advance, the pace of fundraising continues to accelerate. Public information indicates the company raised over 10 billion yuan in total funding during 2025 alone, completing three financing rounds just in the second half of the year. On December 9, the company announced the completion of a Series C financing round exceeding 5 billion yuan, jointly led by CMB International and ChinaAMC, with strategic investments from funds under China Telecom and China Unicom, and participation from numerous institutions including Yunhui Capital and China IC Fund. Existing shareholders such as Fortune Capital and Qianhai Ark Capital continued their support, and JD.com also participated. The funds are earmarked for bolstering R&D investments in both quadruped and humanoid robots, with mentions of future collaborative efforts with JD.com on application scenarios. The investor roster, featuring names like CMB International Capital, ChinaAMC, China Telecom, China Unicom, JD.com, and the National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund, represents a typical blend of "industrial capital + financial capital + state-backed fund" alignment.
When macro narratives, industrial funds, internet giants, and venture capital from the primary market converge simultaneously on a sector, the most likely shift is that while technological sophistication remains crucial, commercial viability becomes an even sharper filter. The inherent contradiction surrounding Cloud Deep Technology stems precisely from this dynamic.
On one hand, the company disclosed that its 2024 revenue grew by over 100% year-on-year and projected 2025 shipments to reach the ten-thousand-unit level, indicating methodical progress and tangible results in the market. On the other hand, the company has not publicly disclosed its profitability status and has relied on completing multiple rounds of external financing for capital infusion.
In the frontier robotics sector, characterized by heavy R&D and high investment, this situation is not uncommon. However, once a company enters the IPO counseling process, its financing rationale is inevitably scrutinized against additional metrics: self-sustaining capability, cost control, and the maturity of its commercial closed-loop.
More granular challenges arise from its business structure. Currently, Cloud Deep Technology's revenue is almost entirely dependent on B2B industry clients, with a high concentration in three sectors: power utilities, emergency response, and security. Overseas market expansion remains in its early stages, and the company has not disclosed specific figures for its international revenue contribution. In contrast, Unitree Technology has publicly stated that overseas orders account for nearly 50% of its business. While a rising market tide can obscure such structural issues beneath technological narratives, they become magnified under the pressure of escalating valuations, transforming into constraints on sustainable growth.
Competitive pressures within the industry are also intensifying. Domestically, Unitree Technology is further along in its capitalization process, having completed its IPO listing counseling in November 2025. Meanwhile, Zhiyuan Robot has gained a public listing platform by acquiring a controlling stake in an A-share listed company.
Following a surge in financing activity, negative side effects like product homogenization and price-based competition are becoming apparent, with some competitors offering similar quadruped robots at lower price points than Cloud Deep Technology. Recent specialized risk warnings issued by the National Development and Reform Commission targeting the robotics sector directly address issues such as low-level repetitive R&D and inefficient resource allocation. The sector is now transitioning towards high-quality, in-depth development, constrained by both financing prospects and order book realities.
Cloud Deep Technology's decision to initiate IPO counseling at this juncture essentially places a hard-tech unicorn under the stricter scrutiny of capital market metrics. Yet, in a sector characterized by a funding frenzy, the ultimate differentiator that creates the most significant gap between players is often not the next funding round, but the speed at which profitability and commercial success are realized.
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