The embodied AI robotics sector in China's primary market is experiencing a funding frenzy in 2026. According to incomplete statistics from IT桔子 and CENTI, the first quarter of 2026 saw over 50 disclosed funding rounds in China's embodied AI field, with more than 30 companies receiving investments totaling approximately 20 billion yuan, a nearly 60% year-on-year increase, setting a new historical record.
While many still debate whether embodied AI robots represent an industrial revolution or a capital bubble, China's robotics landscape is rapidly polarizing. A clear signal is the continuous expansion of the club of companies valued over 10 billion yuan. Incomplete statistics show that numerous players including Unitree Robotics, Galaxy General, Zhiyuan Robotics, Xinghai Tu, Qianxun AI, Zhi Pingfang, Zibianliang Robotics, Yun Shen Chu Technology, Zhongqing Robotics, Xingdong Jiyuan, Lingxin Qiaoshou, Keenon Robotics, and Paxinee have joined the "10-billion-yuan club."
As capital increasingly flows toward companies with key technological capabilities, industry focus is shifting to practical metrics like mass production capabilities, real orders, and scenario implementation. This indicates that a 10-billion-yuan valuation is not the finish line but rather an entry ticket to the next phase of competition.
Matthew Effect Becoming Apparent China's robotics sector is seeing its 10-billion-yuan valuation club expand at an unprecedented rate. These companies cover various directions including embodied AI brains and limbs, full-stack integrated machines, and core components. Most are relatively new but have密集 completed large funding rounds within the same time window, collectively crossing the 10-billion-yuan threshold, accelerating the solidification of leading positions.
As the world's largest quadruped robot manufacturer by shipments, Unitree Robotics achieved规模化 profitability in 2025, with revenue surging 335% year-on-year to 1.708 billion yuan. Its humanoid robot shipments exceeded 5,500 units, maintaining its global top position. Its valuation reached approximately 42 billion yuan during its IPO issuance phase, making it one of the sector leaders.
Galaxy General completed a 2.5 billion yuan funding round in March this year, with investors including the National AI Industry Fund (Big Fund III), Sinopec, CITIC Group, and Bank of China, among other state-backed and industrial giants. Post-round, its valuation is about 21 billion yuan. The Big Fund III's first move into the embodied AI field释放 a strong national strategic signal.
Zhi Pingfang became one of the world's fastest-funded embodied AI companies during a周期 of increasing capital caution. The company completed 12 funding rounds within a year, with its valuation突破 10 billion yuan. Its over 1 billion yuan Series B round in February 2026, led by Baidu Strategic Investment and CRRC Capital, demonstrated industrial capital's认可 of its technical路线.
As a disruptor in tactile sensors, Paxinee Perception focuses on enabling robots to "perceive" the physical world. The company reduced the price of high-precision tactile sensors from as high as 100,000 yuan per unit to the hundred-yuan level. It completed an over 1 billion yuan Series B round in August 2025, with valuation surpassing 10 billion yuan.
Recently, Zhongqing Robotics announced the completion of a $200 million Series B round, pushing its valuation over 10 billion yuan. This round was jointly led by Henan Investment Group Huirong Fund and Luxshare Precision, highlighting the synergistic empowerment from local state-owned capital and top-tier manufacturing industrial capital.
From the funding events of over ten embodied AI robotics companies valued over 10 billion yuan, it is evident that this year's investors frequently include state-backed funds and industrial capital. The most typical case is Galaxy General引入 the Big Fund III, viewed by the industry as an important embodiment of embodied AI's formal inclusion into the national core industrial strategic layout.
Simultaneously, deep integration with industrial capital has become常态. Examples include Luxshare Precision leading Zhongqing Robotics' round, a CATL-associated fund investing in Qianxun AI, and BYD's strategic investment in Paxinee. This means leading companies gain not just capital but, more importantly, order entry points and validation scenarios from the industrial end, accelerating technological iteration and the formation of commercial闭环.
"The company places greater emphasis on industrial synergy when筛选 investors. Institutions bring more than just funds; once there is industrial integration and配套 synergy, it actually allows the company to advance rapidly. Strategic investments from companies like BYD and JD.com have provided certain factory testing opportunities," said Xu Jincheng, CEO of Paxinee Perception Technology.
Geographically, Beijing and Shenzhen form a clear bipolar格局 among the 10-billion-yuan club. Beijing, leveraging top universities and research institutes, holds significant advantages in embodied AI large models, world models, and other 'brain' technologies, hosting companies like Galaxy General, Xinghai Tu, Qianxun AI, and Xingdong Jiyuan. Shenzhen,凭借 strong hardware innovation, supply chain integration, and commercialization capabilities, has incubated companies like Zhi Pingfang, Paxinee Perception, and Zhongqing Robotics.
As capital concentrates towards the leading camp, the Matthew Effect becomes increasingly apparent. Capital is accelerating towards key choke points in the robotics industry. Over half of the sector's investments this year have flowed into two core areas: embodied AI brains and dexterous hands.
Several brokerage research reports指出 that the 'brain' is the current core短板 in embodied AI development and the key differentiator between robots in the embodied AI era and traditional program-controlled robots. Qianxun AI reached a 10-billion-yuan valuation upon its establishment in January 2024, focusing on embodied AI brains and long-sequence operation capabilities.
Dongwu Securities calculates that, in the long term, dexterous hands could account for 20% to 30% of a full robot's cost, second only to the body actuation system, making them one of the most important hardware components. In the dexterous hand segment, Lingxin Qiaoshou completed a 1.5 billion yuan Series B round in February this year, significantly boosting funding in this niche.
An executive from a company focused on dexterous hand R&D noted that capital tends to flow towards lower-risk areas. "Many investors now investing in embodied AI will accelerate the Matthew Effect. As the pace quickens, most resources concentrate in the leading camp, meaning leading companies will advance even faster, which presents less risk for investors. Other tail-end companies lacking resources might fall behind after a short run."
Where Do the 10-Billion-Yuan Valuations Come From? Valuations exceeding 10 billion yuan are no longer rare in the 2026 embodied AI sector, but where do these hefty valuations originate?
From the relatively mature logical framework investment institutions have formed for pricing embodied AI companies, in the primary market, institutions generally first forecast the long-term market potential, then work backwards to estimate the potential market capitalization space for relevant companies, dynamically adjusting based on changes in industry penetration rates.
The industry often uses the automotive industry as a reference for valuing embodied AI companies. International investment bank Morgan Stanley predicted in a mid-September last year research report that by 2050, 10 billion humanoid robots will be deployed globally, with a market size reaching $50 trillion. This figure is roughly twice the total revenue of the world's 20 largest automakers in 2024.
On a global对标 level, there are significant differences in the valuation logic for leading embodied AI companies in China and the US, and these differences provide a reference frame for valuing Chinese companies.
Taking Tesla as an example, Musk recently stated publicly that the Optimus humanoid robot project could potentially build Tesla into a robotics company valued at $250 trillion, with Optimus contributing the majority of the company's current市值, which is already considered highly溢价.
Morgan Stanley's report indicated that under a base case, Tesla's Optimus business could contribute $60 per share to its valuation, and up to $225 per share in a bull case, becoming an increasingly important component of Tesla's valuation. This long-term valuation expectation set by a global leader objectively raises the pricing ceiling for the entire embodied AI sector in the capital markets.
Currently, after completing a over $1 billion Series C round in September last year, the valuation of US humanoid robot startup Figure AI surged from $2.6 billion in 2024 to $39 billion. Renowned embodied AI model software company Physical Intelligence reached a $5.6 billion valuation after a $600 million funding round in November last year. Embodied AI robotics company Apptronik achieved a post-money valuation exceeding $5 billion after a $520 million new funding round in February this year.
"A valuation over 10 billion yuan might seem surprising for the Chinese market, but in the US, there are many companies with valuations of that scale. The first tier in the US can now reach 300 billion yuan valuations. For many investors, seeing a potential 30-fold space, resources疯狂涌现 to enter the field," said Xu Jincheng. He added that as Sino-US competition intensifies, including in the embodied AI industry, Chinese companies must enhance their capabilities to be competitive. Valuation itself reflects this capability enhancement; better companies with higher market scarcity naturally see rising valuations.
In the Chinese market, the valuation performance of Ubtech, as the "first stock of humanoid robots," provides an important benchmark for the capital market. In 2025, Ubtech's annual revenue reached 2.001 billion yuan, a 53.3% year-on-year increase, ranking first among global humanoid robot companies.
Citi valued Ubtech based on a price-to-sales ratio, assigning a target price of HKD 155 based on a forecasted 2026 P/S ratio of 23x. Guotai Junan Securities raised its target price for Ubtech to HKD 184.77 in April, believing the company有望 lead the development of the humanoid robot industry. With several institutions like Guotai Junan and Yuanta Securities successively raising target prices, Ubtech has become a key benchmark for capital to measure embodied AI valuations.
However, juxtaposed with this long-term imagination is investors' stringent scrutiny of commercialization capabilities. Specifically regarding investment target筛选, the capital market has formed core criteria, including fully autonomous and controllable full-stack technology, proven mass production and delivery capabilities, validated real commercial闭环, and a top-tier composite team DNA, serving as the "entry ticket" for securing large industry funding.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley believe that 2026 will be a watershed year where the market shifts its focus from technological breakthroughs to ROI evaluation.
Judging from current orders and commercialization progress, leading companies are striving to respond with hard-cash orders and mass production capabilities.
In the industrial sector, the collaboration between Galaxy General and CATL is particularly deep. Its robots achieve 7x24-hour fully autonomous operation in battery factories, improving material handling efficiency by over 30% compared to traditional manual labor. Qianxun AI's self-developed large model has entered CATL's production lines, achieving a success rate稳定 above 99% in precision tasks like plugging. Products from Zhiyuan Robotics have also entered the production lines of companies like Longcheer Technology and JunSheng Electronics.
In the commercial retail sector, Keenon Robotics' catering delivery robots have shown impressive performance overseas. Zhi Pingfang launched "Zhi Mofang," which is now operational in cities like Beijing and Shenzhen, entering core scenarios like shopping malls and parks, and operating normally for external business. In hazardous, repetitive, or hard-to-reach areas, Yun Shen Chu Technology holds market shares as high as 85% and 90% in the power and fire inspection industries, respectively.
It is evident that the gradual commercialization of leading companies provides fundamental support for their valuations. As capital moves from狂热 to理性, and technology shifts from concept to practicality, embodied AI has entered a stage competing on规模化落地 and systemic capabilities. A 10-billion-yuan valuation is merely the entry ticket; the real competition has just begun.
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