Summary of Key Points
The performance of robots performing the Yangko dance during the 2025 Spring Festival Gala served as a catalyst, leading to a surge in financing within the robotics sector: in 2024, there were just over 170 financings totaling 14 billion yuan; by 2025, this number had skyrocketed to 450 financings amounting to 56 billion yuan. In the first half of this year alone, there have been nearly 300 financings worth 46 billion yuan, with 20 new unicorn companies emerging. New energy vehicle supply chain enterprises (such as CATL, BYD, SAIC, etc.) have become key investors. These firms not only provide capital but also offer crucial resources such as supply chains, use cases, and data. Their investment strategy focuses on identifying additional growth areas, reducing costs, increasing efficiency, and achieving business synergies. Startups prefer to collaborate with them because resources are more valuable than money. On the other hand, automakers tend to invest externally rather than develop robots in-house to mitigate risks.
Detailed Analysis
1. Robotics Financing Booms: The Spring Festival Gala as a Trigger
The appearance of 16 robots wearing Northeastern cotton-padded jackets performing the Yangko dance during the 2025 Spring Festival Gala significantly ignited the robotics financing market. In 2024, there were only about 170 financings in the robotics sector, amounting to 14 billion yuan. By the end of 2025, that figure had risen to 450 financings, tripling the amount to 56 billion yuan. The first half of this year has seen an even more dramatic increase, with nearly 300 financings and 46 billion yuan, and 20 new unicorn companies have been established. Some startups have completed three to five rounds of financing in just six months, with each round involving substantial amounts of capital. The main driving force behind this surge is the entry of new energy supply chain enterprises, which bring both funding and valuable resources.
2. New Energy Supply Chains Become the New Investors: Why Are They Spending So Much?
The most active investors are giants in the new energy sector, such as CATL and BYD. For example, CATL has invested through three platforms in more than ten companies, including Galaxy General (with a 1.1-billion yuan Series B round, the highest in the industry at that time) and Qianxun Intelligence (whose robots are already used in CATL’s lithium battery production lines), totaling over 2 billion yuan across various fields such as industrial and consumer robotics, as well as sensors. BYD has been proactive in both developing its own robotics technology and investing in companies like Zhiyuan (humanoid robots) and Passini (touch sensors).
Their investment rationale is clear:
- Seeking New Growth Areas: With the slowdown in new energy vehicle sales, they need to find alternative growth opportunities.
- Advantageous Position: They possess significant resources—financial strength from new energy business profits, expertise in manufacturing (battery and automotive production), access to real production scenarios (their own factories require robots), and valuable data for robot training.
Some investors believe that CATL’s investment impact is even greater than that of Tencent or Alibaba because they have a deep understanding of the robotics industry.
3. Startups Prefer Collaboration with New Energy Companies: Resources Are More Important Than Money
Robotic startups are not short of investors, but they prefer to partner with new energy supply chains. For instance, Kunlunxing Robotics received three rounds of financing within less than 100 days of its establishment, even before having a product ready; Delta Intelligence completed five rounds of financing in half a year. The reason is that new energy companies offer more than just financial support:
- Stable Supply Chains: They can provide essential components like batteries and chips directly.
- High-Quality Data: Real production data from their factories helps robots train more efficiently.
- Immediate Application: Robots can be deployed in new energy factories, eliminating the need to search for customers.
A co-founder of a startup stated, “Money can be obtained from anywhere, but these resources can save us years of trial and error.”
4. The Calculus of New Energy Automakers: More Than Just Making Money—They Want to Become High-Tech Companies
New energy automakers’ investments in robotics are not casual; they follow three main strategies:
- Cost Reduction and Efficiency Improvement: Using robots to replace manual labor can reduce costs, as seen with SAIC’s adoption of Zhiyuan robots in its battery production lines.
- Business Synergies: The core supply chains for new energy vehicles and robotics overlap significantly (controllers, power systems, chips), allowing for cost-sharing in research and development.
- Revaluation: Automakers want to avoid being labeled as “traditional car companies” and aim to be seen as high-tech entities. For example, Chery’s chairman, Yin Tongyue, stated, “We want to become high-tech companies focused on the future.” Ideal Motors has restructured its departments to include embodied intelligence initiatives for this same reason.
5. Why Do Automakers Invest Rather than Develop Robots In-House?
Although many automakers have their own robotics research teams, few of their projects are funded in these rounds. There are three main reasons:
- High Investment Costs: Robotics development is time-consuming and requires substantial funding, which many automakers (some still operating at a loss) cannot afford.
- Lower Investment Risks: Investing in startups allows them to profit from successes or limit losses in cases of failure.
- Synergistic Benefits: Partnering with startups enables cost-sharing and technology reuse, such as data and supply chain collaboration. For example, Geely invested in only one robotics company last year but six this year; SAIC has invested in four unicorn companies and is using robots in its production lines.
This surge in robotics financing reflects the transfer of funds and resources from the new energy industry to cutting-edge technologies. The profits generated by new energy are being invested in robots that have the potential to transform the future, providing both strategic opportunities for these companies and driving progress in the industry as a whole.