Staff train a humanoid robot to reproduce human behavior at a training center in Hefei, Anhui province, China, April 13, 2026.
Video Visual China Group | Getty Images
Hello, I’m Evelyn. I am writing to you from Beijing. Welcome to the latest edition of The China Connection. This is a concise summary of what I have seen and heard from local companies.
Today we’ll dig into the rising valuations of Chinese humanoid startups and why they haven’t yet attracted the same kind of funding as their American rivals, despite offering far more robots. Are US VCs missing out?
big story
While Chinese humanoid robot startups are already shipping robots to factories and shopping malls, their U.S. rivals are still focused on development and their valuations are much higher.
It’s becoming more and more disparate.
US humanoid robot startup Figure is valued at at least $39 billion. Meanwhile, Texas-based rival Apptronik achieved a $5 billion valuation in February.
This is significantly higher than the $3 billion-plus valuation of Chinese startup Galbot, which claims to be the most valued Chinese private company in its sector. And its supporters come not from the United States but from China, Singapore, and the Middle East.
Among private companies, AI2 Robotics is home to well over 100 humanoid startups in China, with a valuation of 20 billion yuan ($2.93 billion), according to CEO and founder Eric Guo.
While this may be a fraction of Figure’s valuation, Guo insisted that the major foreign manufacturer chose AI2’s robots over the American startup to do factory work. AI2 is also deploying robots to China’s airports, semiconductor factories, and medical factories.
“Commercialization and technological strength are not contradictory,” Guo said in Mandarin, translated by CNBC.
It’s an investment theory he expects investors, even from the United States, to start taking notice of in just a few months.
If that change occurs, China will be in an advantageous position.
Chinese humanoid startups ranked in the top six in Omdia’s 2025 ranking of global robot shipments. Figure and Tesla are the only US companies in the top 10. Tesla’s Optimus is still largely in the development stage, although a figurine robot appeared next to US First Lady Melania Trump at a White House event in March.
Another reason for the valuation gap is how investors perceive the company and its ambitions.
Louis Ma, founder of Tech Buzz China, which regularly takes U.S. investors to visit Chinese startups, said that while U.S. humanoid startups are priced as broad artificial intelligence platforms, Chinese startups are seen more as industrial hardware.
“If China ends up dominating manufacturing scale and real-world deployment, U.S. venture capital funds could miss out on that opportunity to some extent,” he said.
play on both sides
Geopolitics has complicated the investment environment.
U.S.-China tensions and domestic national security policies are dampening cross-border investment. Large U.S. pension funds, which once invested heavily in Chinese startups through venture capital funds, are reducing their exposure in response to increased regulatory scrutiny on both sides.
That created an opportunity for Middle East funds. As Gulf countries look to transition away from fossil fuels, they backed Chinese venture capital to buy locally developed robots.
Tech Buzz’s Ma said they “seem to be more flexible on either side,” adding that they “may end up having the most balanced exposure to humanoid opportunities.”
Limx Dynamics, backed by China-based Future Capital and others, secured its first foreign investor this year in the form of Dubai-based Stone Venture.
“For example, about 90% of U.S. venture capital goes to software, leaving a significant funding gap in hard technology that sovereign wealth funds are uniquely positioned to fill,” said Winston Marr, an adjunct professor at New York University School of Law.
He added that China’s experience in producing electric vehicles and drones is now being applied to the production of humanoid robots.
Future Capital, initial investment also included an EV company lee autorecently announced that one of its portfolio companies, sports robot company Ponbot, has raised approximately 200 million yuan in less than six months.
This shows how quickly money is flowing in, even at a fraction of US levels.
The bifurcation also reverses the investor scenario, said Cameron Johnson, senior partner at supply chain consulting firm Tidal Wave Solutions in Shanghai. He said Americans are coming to Shenzhen to buy parts for humanoid robots and combine them with American software.
need to know
China’s economy grew 5% in the first quarter
While GDP in the first quarter exceeded expectations, increasing 5% year-on-year, retail sales in March did not increase by 1.7% year-on-year. Export growth slowed to just 2.5% as the Iran war hit global demand.
Chinese robotaxi company advances in UAE despite Iran war
Ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing last week became the latest Chinese robotaxi operator to announce expansion plans in the Middle East. The news was announced as part of a business forum hosted by the United Arab Emirates with China as part of a state visit to Beijing.
Hong Kong to announce tax cuts to attract global commodity traders
The region plans to halve the tax rate on profits from trading certain products in a bid to attract global companies to the financial hub on China’s southern coast. The exact implementation date has not yet been announced.
very soon
April 21: Volkswagen Group unveils four new models in Beijing
April 24th – May 3rd: Beijing Motor Show
April 15th – May 5th: Canton Fair (spring session) focusing on exports in Guangzhou
