Robot Sector Financing Rises from 2024 to First Half 2026; NEV Supply Chain Firms Become Key Investors

At the 2025 Spring Festival Gala, 16 robots from Yushu Technology, dressed in Northeast-style red flower print cotton jackets, performed a folk dance.

In 2024, the robot sector saw more than 170 financing deals totaling about RMB 14 billion. Taking the 2025 Spring Festival Gala as a turning point, financing deals in 2025 increased to nearly 450, with a total amount of approximately RMB 56 billion. Since 2026, nearly 20 robot startups have become new unicorns, with some completing three to five rounds in the first half of the year, and single-round financing amounts continuously setting records. In the first half of 2026, the sector recorded nearly 300 deals, with disclosed total financing of about RMB 46 billion.

New energy vehicle (NEV) supply chain companies have become new participants in robot investment. In June 2025, CATL and its Puchuang Capital led a Series B round for Galaxy General Robot, raising RMB 1.1 billion, then a record for a single round in China's embodied intelligence field. Through three investment platforms, CATL has invested in Galaxy General, Qianxun Intelligent, Songyan Power, Weita Power, Zhongqing Robot, and others; its two most recent investments were in Landian Touch and Natural Will. CATL has invested over RMB 2 billion in the robot sector, covering more than 10 companies across industrial robots, general-purpose robots, consumer robots, embodied bodies, large models, sensors, controllers, and physical AI.

BYD has also invested in robot startups, and did so earlier than CATL, adhering to a strategy of "investment plus self-development." In August 2023, BYD invested in Zhiyuan Robot. In 2025, BYD affiliates invested in Paxini, which focuses on multi-dimensional tactile sensors and humanoid robot end-effectors, and Xinuo Future, which provides full-stack solutions for dexterous hands. Kunlunxing Robot obtained three rounds of financing within 100 days of its founding and without a product, becoming a new robot unicorn. Its goal is to build a dual-system intelligent robot architecture centered on the Kunlun World Model by introducing physical causal modeling capabilities on top of the VLA model. Detai Intelligent completed five financing rounds in six months, with investors including leading robot startups such as Xinghai Tu and Zhiyuan Robot, as well as automotive and semiconductor industry investors.

In the first half of 2026, 20 new unicorn companies emerged in the robot sector, including Zhipingfang, Zibianliang, Qianxun Intelligent, Sudo Technology, Tashi Zhihang, Digua Robot, Wujie Power, and Zhuji Power. These companies generally received support from the NEV supply chain, including Wuzhou Xinchun, Horizon Robotics, Zhongding Co. , Guangyang Co. , Joyson Electronics, Changying Precision, CATL, Envision Technology, Dayang Motor, and Wanfeng Holdings. In July 2026, Zhipingfang obtained a new round of financing of RMB 5 billion, setting a new single-round record, with shareholders including NEV supply chain companies such as Wuzhou Xinchun, Wanfeng Holdings, and Zhongbei Communication.

NEV companies are more aggressive in their external robot investments. In 2026, the SAIC Group invested in four of the 20 new robot unicorns, the Geely Group made six investments, and NIO Capital participated in the financing of Zhuji Power. The core supply chain overlap between NEVs and robots exceeds 60%, with high reuse rates in controllers, power systems, chips, and sensors. In May 2026, Li Auto restructured its autonomous driving department, adding three second-level departments—embodied engineering, embodied interaction, and embodied behavior—under its base model R&D division. In March 2026, SAIC Group deployed a humanoid robot developed by Zhiyuan Robot onto the battery mass production line of its Buick Zhijing E7.