As funding tightens across the global tech sector, one category remains stubbornly optimistic in China: humanoid robotics. Startups including Robot Era, Unitree, Galbot, X Square Robot, and Magiclab are riding a fresh wave of capital, drawing nearly ¥1.1 billion ($151 million) in combined funding over the past six months. The resurgence is powered by investor bets on the convergence of artificial intelligence and physical embodiment—a segment often considered the next frontier in machine intelligence.

A Shift Toward Embodied Intelligence

Unlike traditional automation, humanoid robotics focuses on general-purpose machines designed to move, sense, and interact in human-like ways. These machines are increasingly equipped with large language models, multimodal perception, and real-time decision-making systems—making them more adaptable to everyday environments such as homes, factories, and public spaces.

“Embodied AI is evolving from a science fiction concept into a commercial form factor,” says Lin Qiaoyi, a robotics analyst at Shanghai-based ThinkNext Research. “With GenAI models now able to interpret voice, vision, and context in real time, humanoids are beginning to fulfill roles beyond simple automation.”

Who’s Leading the Charge?

Each of China’s humanoid robotics contenders brings a distinct specialization to the space:

🔹 Robot Era

Shenzhen-based Robot Era recently raised ¥300 million in Series B funding led by GAC Capital. The startup focuses on hospitality and eldercare robotics, with humanoids trained to navigate care facilities, recognize emotional cues, and assist with basic mobility tasks.

🔹 Unitree Robotics

Hangzhou-based Unitree, already known globally for its agile quadruped robots, is pivoting into bipedal humanoids. Its recently launched H1 robot can walk, run, and carry up to 10 kg. Unitree closed a ¥260 million strategic round in May 2025, aiming to scale production and push into logistics and home automation markets.

🔹 Galbot

Backed by Meituan and several government-linked funds, Galbot focuses on service humanoids for smart retail. Their robots have already been piloted in Chinese convenience stores as autonomous greeters and inventory auditors. Galbot secured ¥200 million in early 2025 to commercialize its G-X Humanbot.

🔹 X Square Robot

A new entrant founded by robotics veterans from DJI and Baidu, X Square raised ¥180 million in seed funding. The firm is building industrial-grade humanoids for use in hazardous environments such as chemical plants and underground mines, leveraging robust mechanical design and thermal protection systems.

🔹 Magiclab

This Beijing-based AI-robotics hybrid lab secured ¥160 million in March to develop open-source LLM-integrated humanoids aimed at education and research. Magiclab’s M-Lab Pro is one of China’s first robots with integrated multi-agent architecture powered by local foundational models.

Strategic Catalysts: AI Policy, Labor Gaps, and Industrial Upgrades

The capital surge into humanoids is not just hype—it’s policy-aligned. Beijing’s latest Five-Year Plan includes provisions for “smart service robots in high-trust environments,” with humanoid development earmarked as a strategic industry.

Additionally, aging demographics and rising labor costs are driving demand for assistive robotics. Analysts see near-term opportunities in eldercare, logistics, retail, and disaster response, particularly as AI models become more autonomous and explainable.

“Humanoids may soon be deployed as multi-skill workers,” notes Gu Tianran, chief investment officer at Starlink Capital. “They’re not here to replace people, but to work alongside them in spaces too complex or costly to automate fully.”

Challenges: Hardware, Energy, and Real-World UX

Despite investor enthusiasm, challenges remain. Humanoid robots are power-intensive, expensive to manufacture, and face difficulties in real-world human-robot interaction (HRI). Many prototypes function well in labs but struggle in noisy, unpredictable environments.

Moreover, China’s humanoid race remains fragmented, with no dominant platform yet emerging. As a result, interoperability and shared development standards are still limited—unlike in the software-based AI sector, where open models and APIs have flourished.

Outlook: A 2030 Market, Accelerated by 2025 Capital

While commercial viability at scale may be three to five years away, the current capital wave is laying critical groundwork. With GenAI integrations, edge compute advances, and sensor costs dropping, humanoid robotics is poised to shift from proof-of-concept to utility-grade products by the end of the decade.

"Today’s ¥1 billion in funding isn't for robots we’ll see everywhere tomorrow," says Lin from ThinkNext. "It's for platforms that could become as foundational as smartphones or cloud servers were in the last two decades."