Single-Month Financing Exceeds 10 Billion Yuan, Who's Going Crazy for Robots?

Article | Xinmei Daybreak Cheng Jia

Editor | Zhai Wenting

Almost on the same day, Galaxy General Robots and Matsuyama Power announced details of a new funding round. The former raised 2.5 billion yuan, the latter secured 1 billion yuan—both are significant amounts.

Both companies’ products appeared on the Spring Festival Gala of the Year of the Horse, just half a month after the Lunar New Year. The Spring Festival Gala seems to have become the best stage for robot fundraising showcases.

If 2025’s theme is “Embodied Intelligence,” then 2026 is destined to be the year of explosive growth in the robotics sector.

Galaxy General Robots’ single-round funding hit 2.5 billion yuan, with valuation surpassing 20 billion yuan; Flexiv’s latest valuation reached 13 billion yuan after securing hundreds of millions of dollars; other companies like Xingdong Jiyuan, Qianxun Intelligent, Zhifangping, Lingxin Qiaoshou, and Xinghai Tu, after completing over 1 billion yuan in recent funding rounds, have valuations exceeding 10 billion yuan… a series of figures pushing the robotics industry to unprecedented heights.

According to IT Juzi, since 2026, there have been 189 equity financing events in the domestic embodied intelligence sector, averaging 2.6 deals per day, with both February and March seeing over 10 billion yuan in funding.

The major backers include top-tier VCs like Sequoia China, Shenzhen Capital Group, Hillhouse Capital, and industry giants such as Tencent, ByteDance, Alibaba, JD.com, Meituan, Baidu. Numerous city governments have also launched hundreds-of-billion-yuan robot industry funds, and the National Big Fund Phase III has led a 2.5 billion yuan funding group into leading companies.

From industrial robots to humanoid robots, from commercial services to home companionship, capital eager not to miss the next big trend is pouring into this field like never before.

However, beneath the blossoms, dark currents are surging.

Across the ocean, in the U.S., humanoid robot startup Cartwheel Robotics declared bankruptcy in March 2026; the National Development and Reform Commission publicly warned that current humanoid robots are still immature in technical routes, business models, and application scenarios, cautioning against structural risks from product “clustering” on the market.

Is this the eve of industry-wide explosion, or just a bubble of false fire?

1. An average of 2.6 funding rounds per day

Behind the enthusiasm, there are two major galas.

If the 2025 Spring Festival Gala made Yushu Technology famous, then the 2026 Gala was a collective showcase of robots—Yushu Technology, Galaxy General Robots, Matsuyama Power, and Magic Atom all competed on the same stage, setting a record for the density of robot appearances at the Gala.

From spotlight on stage to media spotlight, it only took two weeks to turn around.

On March 2, Galaxy General Robots announced a new round of 2.5 billion yuan funding, with a lineup of investors including the National Artificial Intelligence Industry Fund (Phase III), Sinopec Capital, Bank of China, SAIC Group, SMIC Juyuan, and Yizhuang State Investment. The backing is exceptionally strong in the history of the robotics industry. On the same day, Matsuyama Power also announced nearly 1 billion yuan in Series B funding led by CATL’s industry investment platform Chendao Capital.

Of course, only a few companies can make it to the Gala. The funding landscape more clearly reflects the current state of the primary robotics market.

As of March 13, 2026, among 189 completed funding events, 13 had single-round amounts exceeding 1 billion yuan. Notably, Galaxy General Robots had the highest single-round funding, and it is also the company with the highest total funding in China so far.

Founded in May 2023, this company has completed six rounds of funding in less than three years, with total investments exceeding 6.8 billion yuan, setting a record in China’s embodied intelligence field. Its valuation has reached $3 billion, making it the highest-valued humanoid robot company in China.

The company with the densest funding rounds is Zhifangping. Founded by AI PhD Guo Yandong in April 2023, it completed 12 funding rounds in the past year, including 7 in 2025 and 5 in the first two months of 2026, making it the fastest-growing embodied intelligence company globally. Its latest Series B round exceeded 1 billion yuan, with valuation surpassing 10 billion yuan.

Beyond leading companies, the entire sector’s structural features are also worth noting.

Looking at the types of funded companies, 2026’s robotics sector shows diversification and a focus on core technologies.

Of the 189 funding events so far this year, over 60% involve embodied intelligence and humanoid robots, highlighting their dominant position. Companies like Galaxy General, Zhifangping, and Qianxun Intelligent focus on “full-stack self-developed capabilities”—covering “brain + small brain + body.” Component companies like Pasini, Lingxin Qiaoshou, and InTime Robotics focus on tactile sensors, dexterous hands, and micro-precision motion parts, completing several billion-yuan funding rounds.

In terms of application scenarios, industrial robots remain the main focus of capital investment. Galaxy General has partnered with CATL, Bosch Germany, Toyota, and others, with thousands of units ordered. Service robots and specialized robots are also expanding into underwater operations, garden maintenance, medical rehabilitation, retail services, and more.

This wave of enthusiasm is not entirely new. IT Juzi’s data shows that investment activity in China’s robotics sector has followed a long upward trajectory.

Distribution of investment in Chinese robotics companies (Source/IT Juzi)

Before 2013, annual investments were fewer than 10 deals, indicating a nascent market. From 2014 onward, the pace accelerated, surpassing 100 deals in 2016, reaching 130 and 148 in 2017 and 2018 respectively. After a brief dip in 2019, activity surged again in 2021, reaching 283 deals in 2024.

The real inflection point was 2025, with total investments soaring to 674 deals and funding reaching a peak, pushing China’s robotics industry to an unprecedented high.

In 2026, this momentum not only continues but accelerates. As of March 13, there have been 189 funding events, averaging over two per day. Although the period is short for annual comparison, current trends suggest the total for the year could break new records.

2. Who’s making frequent moves?

Companies compete on stage, while investors strategize behind the scenes. Analyzing the investor list, three main types of players are active, each with their own rhythm and logic.

According to IT Juzi data up to mid-March 2026, top institutional investors include leading VC firms. Sequoia China leads with 10 deals, followed by Shenzhen Capital Group with 7, and BlueChili Capital, CICC Capital, and Hillhouse Capital each with 6.

(Optional) Top 10 most active investors in China’s robotics sector (Source/IT Juzi) image description

Looking at the long-term, Sequoia China has made 57 investments in robotics, Shenzhen Capital 50, BlueChili 49—these top institutions have long-term strategic layouts in this sector, well before the current boom.

The investment logic of professional VCs tends to be “broad and diversified,” holding different companies with various technical routes within the same sector, rather than betting on a single horse.

Regarding specific preferences, each VC has its focus.

Sequoia China holds positions in companies like Qianxun Intelligent, Variable Robotics, and Zhijian Power, covering multiple technical segments from embodied intelligence to robot hardware; Matrix Partners has invested in Yushu Technology, Zhiyuan Robotics, Galaxy General, favoring teams with clear technological differentiation; BlueChili Capital focuses on early-stage companies.

The classic saying “Invest in people” is well validated in robotics. Founders with top academic backgrounds and experience in major corporations or cutting-edge labs are more likely to gain early recognition and high valuations.

Galaxy General’s co-founder Wang He holds a Tsinghua undergraduate degree and a Stanford PhD, is an assistant professor at Peking University, and a doctoral supervisor—one of the earliest scholars researching end-to-end embodied large models; co-founder Yao Tengzhou has a master’s from Beihang University’s Robotics Institute, mentored by industry legend Wang Tianmiao, worked at ABB Robotics R&D, with over ten years of entrepreneurial experience; Zhifangping’s founder Guo Yandong has a PhD in AI from Purdue, worked at Microsoft Research US, and served as chief scientist at Xiaopeng Motors and OPPO… All typical paths.

Sequoia China partner Zhang Han, when discussing the invested company Unbounded Power, emphasized this logic: “The team has core technological innovation capabilities, rich experience in engineering implementation and building business ecosystems, and has the opportunity to deploy leading applications in scenarios.”

Compared to profit-driven professional VCs, industry capital’s logic is different. They focus more on “strategic synergy,” thus having clearer preferences for the types of companies they invest in.

CATL’s Chendao Capital led nearly 1 billion yuan in Matsuyama Power’s Series B, believing humanoid robots are key terminal applications for high-density batteries, and investing early secures potential clients; Baidu’s strategic investment in Zhijian Power is based on its embodied large models and the potential for technological synergy with the Wenxin series; ByteDance’s participation in Variable Robotics’ Series A+ aligns with its own layout of developing foundational robot models.

A long-term investor told “Xinmei” that traditional financial institutions focus on sector layout and financial returns, while industry capital looks at longer-term strategic cooperation, preferring companies with proven products that can leverage resources or ecosystems.

Regarding the current investment pace in robotics, this investor admits that although they have early-stage projects, the high valuations of star companies have made them more conservative—“Actually, it’s about grabbing market share, but now it’s hard to get in.”

State-owned capital is the most prominent participant in this round of funding, with clear focus on leading companies.

The National Big Fund Phase III participated in Galaxy General’s 2.5 billion yuan Series B+ round, alongside China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation Capital, Bank of China, SAIC Group, and others—an unusually strong endorsement in the industry.

At the local level, “hundred-billion-yuan funds” are sprouting. Since 2024, more than a dozen cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Chengdu, and Hefei have established robot industry funds totaling over 200 billion yuan. From central to local governments, state capital is strategically positioning itself in this future industry with unprecedented intensity.

3. Unavoidable industry realities

Beneath the blossoms, a fundamental question remains unresolved—what real problems are these well-funded robot companies solving? Who are their customers? How many units have they sold?

Overall, the major funded robot companies mainly focus on two paths: the “replacement route” targeting B-end industrial scenarios, and the “companionship route” for C-end home or commercial services. The former has higher short-term ceiling but is harder to implement; the latter has clearer commercialization paths but must overcome cost-performance barriers.

Taking the Gala stars as examples, their paths are quite different.

Galaxy General Robots pursues B-end industrial and service routes. Its product Galbot is positioned as an “able-bodied” embodied intelligence robot, mainly targeting flexible manufacturing and smart retail scenarios, capable of visual perception-based object recognition and path planning, breaking through traditional industrial robots’ reliance on pre-set routes.

Matsuyama Power mainly targets the C-end consumer market. Its priced at 9,998 yuan, “Xiaobu Mi” is currently the only domestically mass-produced biped humanoid robot priced below 10,000 yuan, mainly for home companionship and education scenarios.

In terms of mass production capacity, Yushu Technology is a more representative benchmark.

According to the “2025 Humanoid Robot Market Research Report,” Yushu Technology shipped over 5,500 units in 2025, accounting for 32.4% of the global market share, ranking first worldwide in both shipment volume and market share.

The common progress of these star companies is that they have moved from “lab exhibits” to “deliverable products,” beginning to accumulate order data in real scenarios.

But the entire industry still faces a common unresolved challenge: no company has yet achieved generalization ability, mass production capability, and positive commercial returns simultaneously.

Variable Robotics founder Wang Qian told 36Kr that the only measure of commercialization is whether it generates positive ROI for customers—whether they buy robots to replace manual labor, whether it improves efficiency or prolongs productivity, as long as it works. “But right now, no one on the market can do that.”

Wang believes that companies claiming to have achieved commercialization and revenue over 100 million yuan are essentially still in the research, education, and reception markets—“doing simple repetitive work in factories is just PR.”

This judgment aligns with the overall industry status. Many leading robot companies openly admit that embodied large models are still in the “RobotGPT 1.0 stage,” and adapting to new factory scenarios often requires re-collecting data and re-tuning algorithms, with deployment costs far higher than traditional industrial automation, far from truly positive returns.

Therefore, skepticism about robot commercialization continues.

Over the past year, Zhaoshang Venture Capital managing partner Zhu Xiaohu’s March 2025 statement is still frequently cited: “I asked these CEOs, where are the potential clients for commercialization? I feel they are imagining clients—who would spend hundreds of thousands to buy a robot for these tasks?”

Before the market could answer, bad news came from across the ocean.

In February 2026, American humanoid robot startup Cartwheel Robotics declared bankruptcy due to lack of real revenue. This is not an isolated incident. In November 2025, Y Combinator star project K-Scale Labs shut down due to order shortages and failed fundraising; in April 2025, AI companion robot company Embodied, valued at 2 billion yuan, went bankrupt after its lead investor withdrew, causing a capital chain rupture… Funding issues are a common “killer” for overseas robot companies.

Domestically, while funding news continues to emerge, dark currents are quietly surging in the secondary market.

In 2025, over 10 robotics-related companies submitted IPO applications to Hong Kong exchanges, with LuoShi Robotics, JZJ, and WoAn Robotics successfully listed. “Humanoid robot’s first stock” UBTECH launched an acquisition of A-share listed company Fenglong Shares, exploring a “H+A” dual-capital path. Leading company Yushu Technology did not complete a new funding round in 2026 but has completed IPO counseling and aims to become the “first A-share humanoid robot stock.”

Behind the intensive IPO activity, the primary market’s capital feast cannot cover all players. More and more robotics companies are knocking on the secondary market’s door, seeking broader capital channels.

However, policy warnings have already sounded. Regulators remind the industry to guard against risks such as product clustering and reduced R&D space. Currently, China has over 150 humanoid robot companies, most of which are startups or “cross-industry entrants.”

Yet, despite the current hotness of the capital market, Zhu Xiaohu’s doubts and the NDRC’s warnings have not cooled this sector in the slightest.

On the contrary, when Jingwei Ventures founding partner Zhang Ying responded to Zhu Xiaohu’s comments, it seemed to provide a reasonable explanation for this boom: “The robotics sector is thriving, a big track, with a hundred flowers blooming. Some bubbles are normal. Over time, humanoid robots will produce major companies.”