---
title: "What Happened at Unitree’s Shanghai IPO?"
description: "Unitree (688836.SH) listed August 19, 2026, raising 6.1 billion yuan (~$904M). Day-one close was 845 yuan (+460%, BBC). By August 25 shares had given back about 45% of that debut pop (Straits Times / Reuters). Do not freeze the open as a live cap."
date: 2026-08-19T00:00:00.000Z
tags: ["2026-vc-news", "venture-capital", "robotics", "market-analysis", "mergers-acquisitions"]
source: https://venturecapitaltracker.com/2026-unitree-shanghai-ipo-humanoid-robots
---

# What Happened at Unitree’s Shanghai IPO?

> Unitree (688836.SH) listed August 19, 2026, raising 6.1 billion yuan (~$904M). Day-one close was 845 yuan (+460%, BBC). By August 25 shares had given back about 45% of that debut pop (Straits Times / Reuters). Do not freeze the open as a live cap.

**Unitree listed.** Yushu Technology Co. Ltd. started trading on Shanghai’s **STAR Market** on **August 19, 2026**, as **688836.SH**. It raised **6.1 billion yuan** (about **US$904 million**) at **150.8 yuan** a share.

**Unexpected truth:** the **+629% open** (1,100 yuan) is not the number that closed the day. **BBC: 845 yuan, up more than 460%.** First-day caps that freeze the open are marketing.

This page is for founders and scouts comparing **public China hardware** to **private U.S. humanoids**. Last verified **August 26, 2026**. Intraday prints will move; we date them.

## Five-minute decision

| If you need… | Verdict |
| --- | --- |
| What happened | **Listed.** STAR Market, Aug 19, 2026. ~$904M primary. Ticker **688836.SH**. |
| What Unitree is | Hangzhou maker of quadruped and humanoid robots (Go/B/H/G lines). Founded 2016. |
| Whether it is “first” | **First mainland A-share humanoid.** Not first Chinese humanoid listing ([UBTech](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0qv4w9492zo) is Hong Kong). |
| Whether to diligence | **Yes**, if you underwrite embodied AI hardware. **No**, if you need U.S. TAM — new models are FCC-blocked. |

**Investigate further when:** you need a public comparable for [Apptronik](/startup/apptronik) or Tesla Optimus slides.

**Wait or pass when:** you are about to quote **US$66B** as a settled valuation. That was the **open**, per SCMP, not the close.

## What happened

| Field | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| Issuer | Yushu Technology / Unitree; Hangzhou; founder Wang Xingxing |
| Venue | Shanghai STAR Market · **688836.SH** |
| Date | August 19, 2026 |
| IPO price | **150.8 yuan** |
| Shares sold | About **40.4–40.45 million** (about 10% of enlarged capital, SCMP) |
| Gross proceeds | **6.1 billion yuan** (~US$904–905M) |
| Open | **1,100 yuan** (**+629%**) |
| Close | **845 yuan** (**+460%+**, BBC) |
| Listing valuation at IPO price | About **61 billion yuan** (Business Times) |
| Use of proceeds | ~**4.2 billion yuan** to embodied AI models, humanoid R&D, products, manufacturing (company via BT) |

Caixin: proceeds **overshot** a **4.2 billion yuan** target. Do not mix that target with the 4.2 billion yuan **use-of-proceeds** line without noticing they are different statements.

## What the prospectus says (via press)

The Business Times attributes these figures to Unitree’s prospectus. We did not re-pull the PDF.

| Metric | Figure | Caveat |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2025 humanoid shipments | **>5,500**, ranked first globally (company/prospectus) | Ranking is the issuer’s |
| Cumulative quadruped sales | **>33,000** | Lifetime units, not 2025-only |
| 2025 revenue | **1.7 billion yuan** (from **393 million** prior year) | Press restatement |
| 2025 net profit | **278 million yuan** | Rare for the category |
| Gross margin | **>60%** | Hardware mix includes cheap dogs |
| IPO price / sales | **35.89×** vs ~20× for HK peers UBTech and Dobot (BT) | Multiple at **IPO price**, not at 845 yuan |

BBC price points we can use without a prospectus: G1 humanoid about **$13,500**; quadrupeds from about **$2,700** vs Boston Dynamics Spot about **$70,000** (not like-for-like size).

## Unitree vs Apptronik — what differs

[Apptronik](/startup/apptronik) is the U.S. private comparable we already cover ($520M extension at **$5B**, Feb 2026).

| | Unitree | Apptronik |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Status (Aug 19, 2026) | **Public** (688836.SH) | **Private** |
| Latest capital | **~US$904M IPO** | **$520M** extension @ **$5B** |
| Proof | Prospectus P&L + unit sales | Growth round + Google/Mercedes names in 2026 coverage |
| Price architecture | Consumer-like hardware ASP | Industrial Apollo |
| U.S. access | **FCC ban on future models** | Home market |
| Listing | Shanghai STAR | None |

Unitree vs Tesla Optimus: Tesla has not started delivering a competitor, per BBC. That is a **timing** gap, not a claim that Unitree’s G1 is Optimus.

Unitree vs [Gravis](/startup/gravis-robotics): Gravis is a **$200M Series A** excavator-autonomy bet (SoftBank, Aug 17). Different job — retrofit construction equipment, not bipedal consumer/research hardware.

## How to read the first-day pop

STAR Market IPOs are often **priced tight** relative to demand. Business Times: retail orders exceeded even CXMT’s July book, and regulators discourage rich IPO prices. A **629% open** can be the mechanical result of that policy, not a new DCF.

| Print | Price | What it is |
| --- | --- | --- |
| IPO | 150.8 yuan | Cash the company received per new share |
| Open | 1,100 yuan | First trade; SCMP ~**US$66B** cap |
| Midday (SCMP) | 883.9 yuan | Pullback; ~357 billion yuan cap in that snapshot |
| Close (BBC, Aug 19) | 845 yuan | End-of-day fact for listing day |
| Aug 24 close (Yicai) | **603.08 yuan** (−10.3% that session) | Four sessions after listing; cap ~**CNY 243.9B** in that snapshot |
| Aug 25 (Straits Times / Reuters) | Steadied after three down days | About **45%** below the debut pop |

**Use the dated print.** The **845 yuan** BBC close is **day-one**. It was not the Aug 25 tape.

## Strategic buyers and political risk

- **DeepSeek** took **2.31% of the offering** with a **three-year lockup** (BT). That is an IPO allocation, not “DeepSeek owns 2.31% of Unitree” unless you do the share-count math from a filing.
- **Meituan** ~**8.7% post-IPO** (SCMP).
- Founder Wang still owns about **a fifth** (BT).
- **U.S. FCC** import ban on **future** foreign humanoid/quadruped models (July 2026).
- **Pentagon** Chinese-military-company list — short of a full sanction; limits U.S. military use. Unitree: civilian products.

Those last two are **why a U.S. founder should not copy Unitree’s TAM slide**.

## When not to use this page

- Do not say Unitree is the **first listed humanoid company**. Say **first mainland A-share humanoid**.
- Do not treat **US$66B** as the official IPO valuation. That was an **open** print.
- Do not treat the **845 yuan** BBC close as a live quote after Aug 19. By Aug 25 the stock had given back about **45%** of that debut pop (Straits Times / Reuters).
- Do not treat quadruped ASPs as humanoid ASPs.
- Do not assume U.S. growth is available for new SKUs.

## Where to go next

Entity: [Unitree](/startup/unitree). U.S. private comparable: [Apptronik $520M](/2026-apptronik-520m-series-a-ext-humanoid-robotics). Same-month physical AI: [Gravis $200M](/2026-gravis-robotics-200m-series-a-softbank). Week tape: [Aug 25–26](/2026-august-25-26-investment-news-grid-freight-media). Month tape: [August 2026 VC news](/2026-august-vc-news).

**By:** [Venture Capital Tracker](https://venturecapitaltracker.com/editorial-policy)
**Last updated:** August 26, 2026

**Editorial note:** AI tools assisted with research, structure, or drafting. Venture Capital Tracker retains human editorial responsibility for factual accuracy, relevance, and source quality before publication.