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China's robotics venture funding hits record $5.6 billion through mid-May 2026, driven by embodied AI startups pursuing IPO debuts
Crunchbase News AI · May 20, 2026
AI Summary
- •China-based robotics companies raised $5.6 billion across 176 deals through mid-May 2026, matching total investment in 2021 and already exceeding the $4.3 billion raised in all of 2025, according to Crunchbase data.
- •Investment is shifting from pre-programmed hardware toward embodied AI startups—companies developing artificial intelligence with a physical body that interacts with the real world in real time—which use Vision-Language-Action models (systems that allow robots to observe, reason, and execute physical tasks end-to-end) rather than line-by-line coding.
- •Robotics startups including TARS Robotics ($513 million seed round, $1.9 billion valuation), Spirit AI ($435 million total Series A, $1.5 billion valuation), and Galaxea AI ($435 million total Series B, $1.4 billion valuation) are securing large back-to-back funding rounds; Unitree Robotics filed for IPO on the Shanghai Stock Exchange targeting a $3 billion to $7 billion valuation.
- •Robotphoenix, a Shanghai-based lightweight industrial robotics maker, listed on HKEX on May 18, raising about $86 million and closing its first full day of trading at HK$53.75 ($6.86 U.S.), up nearly 80%.
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