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Venture investment in China’s robotics sector has hit an all-time high this year, Crunchbase data shows, as several well-funded startups in the space make IPO debuts.
Just through mid-May, China-based robotics companies this year have raised $5.6 billion across 176 deals, Crunchbase data shows. That sum matches total investment to the nation’s robotics companies in all of 2021, the peak of the funding cycle. Investment in the sector has also already eclipsed the $4.3 billion raised by China-based robotics companies in all of 2025.
Startup funding in Asia overall surged to $27.4 billion in Q1, its highest level in over three years, with China capturing $16.5 billion — 60% — of that total, according to recent Crunchbase data. Robotics contributed meaningfully to that $16.5 billion total, with startups in the sector raising $3.3 billion across 126 deals.
Embodied AI boom
A review of Crunchbase data shows that investors now are no longer funding mostly pre-programmed hardware, but increasingly backing China based startups working on embodied AI — or artificial intelligence with a physical body that interacts with the real world in real time. That shift toward artificial intelligence-driven robotics mirrors a global surge in investment into robotics and other physical AI startups. It’s also thanks to the rise of advanced, open-source reasoning models that have fundamentally changed how robots operate. Startups are moving away from coding robots line-by-line toward Vision-Language-Action models that allow physical machines to observe, reason and execute physical tasks end-to-end. In China, robotics startups at the intersection of the software and hardware integration are drawing the largest checks in the space and often back-to-back funding rounds. They include:- TARS Robotics, a 1-year-old humanoid robotics company that integrates embodied intelligence that last month raised a massive $513 million seed round led by Hillhouse Capital and HSG. The Shanghai-based company was valued at $1.9 billion.
- X Square, which develops robotic systems and automation solutions for industrial and service applications, closed a $140 million Series A extension round in January from investors including ByteDance. Then just three months later, it raised $293 million in a massive Series B round co-led by Xiaomi Corp. and HSG
- In February, Beijing-based Spirit AI, which says it’s building a “universal brain” for robots, raised a $290 million Series A led by Chaos Investment and YF Capital. The 2-year-old company was valued at $1.5 billion. Then in April, it announced a $145 million Series A extension financing, bringing the total round to $435 million.
- Humanoid robotics company Galaxea AI in February raised a $145 million Series B led by Jinding Capital. The 2-year-old China-based company was valued at $1.4 billion. In April, it announced a $290 million extension to that round, bringing its total to $435 million
- Shenzhen-based EngineAI, a builder of humanoid and quadruped robots, raised a $200 million Series B last month led by Henan CICC Huirong Fund Management and Luxshare-ICT. The 2-year-old company’s robots will be deployed for traffic, security and retail. It was valued at $1.5 billion.
