'Listing is a must': Chinese humanoid startups are rushing to launch IPOs

BEIJING — Humanoid startup LimX Dynamics is getting ready to go public, just over four years after it was founded during the pandemic.

"Listing is a must," said founder Will Zhang, emphasizing the importance of timing. He was speaking to reporters ahead of the company's announcement Tuesday that it had raised $200 million in a pre-IPO round.

Zhang compared the situation to Chinese electric car startups Nio, Xpeng and Li Auto, which successively listed in the U.S. from 2018 to 2020. "Once the technology is mature, if [the company] doesn't list, then like WM Motor, it may disappear," he said in Mandarin, translated by CNBC.

Several overseas investors, including UAE-based Stone Venture, Italy-based GGG and Germany-based Redstone VC participated in LimX's latest round, which valued the startup at 15 billion yuan ($2.21 billion), according to a press release.

The startup said it was already preparing for its IPO, likely in Hong Kong, and is in a confidential phase of review.

The urgency comes as China now has well over 100 humanoid companies, which fall under the national push for "embodied AI."

Reflecting a rapid surge in interest, investment in the sector hit 47.09 billion yuan ($6.95 billion) in the second quarter, more than double that of the first quarter — and up over six times versus the same period last year, according to industry data provider Xiniu.

China has fast-tracked approval for humanoid company Unitree to list in Shanghai, while Hong Kong processes applications from more than 500 companies across sectors.

"With more industrial and collaborative robot companies potentially coming to IPO, competitive pressure is likely to persist," Morgan Stanley said in a report last week, noting sector players DeepRobot and Leju that are looking to list soon.

The investment firm forecasts 18% growth in China's industrial robots market this year, and shipment of 50,000 humanoids.

LimX aims to create fully autonomous commercial service robots. The company said it will kick off a multi-year plan to ship thousands of humanoids to the Middle East, and is delivering its entertainment-focused Luna humanoid to customers in South Korea.

To founder Zhang, the technology behind humanoid robots has already crossed the "0 to 1" line of innovating from scratch. The next barrier to entry, he said, lies in making a good product that meets users' needs.

Other backers in the latest funding round include Chinese precision parts company Lens Technology, IDG Capital, WestSummit Capital, Nio Capital and Hefei Binhu Industry Development Group, the release said.