Backed by DeepSeek, Unitree IPO tests investor appetite for China’s AI robotics boom

Backed by DeepSeek, Unitree IPO tests investor appetite for China’s AI robotics boom DeepSeek, which invested 141 million yuan, will co-develop AI models and embodied-intelligence technology with Unitree Widely billed as “mainland China’s first humanoid stock”, Unitree has priced its IPO on Shanghai’s Star Market at 150.8 yuan per share, according to a filing released Thursday evening. The firm will sell 40.45 million new shares to raise 6.1 billion yuan – above its initial 4.2 billion yuan target. DeepSeek, which invested 141 million yuan bound by a three-year lock-up period, agreed to co-develop AI models and embodied-intelligence technology with Unitree. The two firms would also give each other priority access in areas such as robot procurement and AI model services, Unitree said. A valuation ‘ceiling’ Unitree’s IPO would serve as a valuation anchor – and effectively the ceiling – for other companies in the embodied-intelligence space, said Zheng Hualiang, founder of Leap VC, a Hangzhou-based venture capital firm investing in AI hardware and foundational models.