Two Chinese robot startups plan to go public in Hong Kong as early as next year, in a sign that the city is strengthening its position as a major fundraising hub for Chinese technology companies. Shares of Unitree, China's leading humanoid robot maker, tumbled just days after a spectacular market debut, but enthusiasm for robot IPOs has yet to cool.
The two companies that have disclosed plans to list in Hong Kong are Hangzhou-based InfiFoss Technology Group and Youdi AI, both founded in 2023 by former Alibaba Group executives, the South China Morning Post reported on the 27th.
InfiFoss and Youdi AI are physical AI startups, working on technology that lets artificial intelligence perceive and act in the real world through a robot's eyes, brain, arms and legs. The Chinese government refers to physical AI by its academic term, embodied AI, and is backing it as a next-generation core industry.
InfiFoss, which developed a robot perception system called AtomBrain, is raising money for a Hong Kong listing. Isabella Bai, the company's chief executive and a former Alibaba vice president, said InfiFoss is targeting a 2027 listing and is currently making preparations. The company did not disclose a specific fundraising target or the identity of its investors.
Earlier this month, InfiFoss closed a new funding round of about 1 billion yuan (205.4 billion won). It has also won overseas orders, including a contract to supply 1,000 robots in Saudi Arabia.
Youdi AI is also pursuing a Hong Kong IPO. Founder and CEO Robin Chen told the SCMP that the company has begun the IPO process and is restructuring its red-chip framework and cleaning up its shareholding structure. "As soon as those procedures are complete, we plan to file a listing application in the first half of next year," Chen said, adding that Hong Kong is the top choice while the company is also reviewing a possible listing on mainland China's A-share market. Chen led robotics research at DAMO Academy, Alibaba's in-house research arm.
Youdi AI is mass-producing self-driving cleaning robots that use the reasoning capabilities of large AI models to identify and remove fallen leaves, waste paper, cigarette butts and other trash on their own. Unlike conventional cleaning robots that repeatedly sweep an entire designated area, these machines recognize trash and handle it selectively. The company has set a revenue target of 300 million to 500 million yuan (61.6 billion to 102.7 billion won) this year, rising to 1 billion yuan next year.
Both companies express confidence about their listings and growth prospects, but some in the venture capital industry warn that valuations of embodied AI companies are climbing too high.
Shen Qinghua, founding partner at Fuhua Capital, said embodied AI has emerged as one of the hottest investment areas since early last year and that valuations have risen quickly but are somewhat overheated. "For today's high valuations to be backed by actual business performance, both companies and the market will need a certain amount of time," he said.
"Overseas expansion by Chinese technology companies is no longer a choice but a necessity," he added. "Over the past two years, Hong Kong has served as a key gateway for Chinese companies to raise funds and move into overseas markets."
