A staff member trains a humanoid robot to replicate human behavior at a training center in Hefei, China’s Anhui province, on April 13, 2026.
VCG | Visual China Group | getty images
Hello, I am Evelyn, writing to you from Beijing. Welcome to the latest edition of The China Connection – a brief snapshot of what I’m seeing and hearing from local businesses.
Today, I’m looking at the rising valuations of Chinese humanoid startups and why they’re still not attracting the same amount of funding as their American rivals – despite delivering far more robots. Are American VCs missing out?
big story
Chinese humanoid startups are already sending robots into factories and malls, while their American rivals are focused on growth — and far more on valuations.
This is a growing divide.
US humanoid robot startup figures to have lowest valuation $39 billion; Meanwhile, Texas-based rival Apptronic achieved a valuation of $5 billion in February.
he is quite high Valuation over $3 billion Chinese startup Galbot, which claims The most valuable privately held Chinese company in the region. And its supporters come from China, Singapore etc. middle east – not America
Among private companies — and there are more than 100 humanoid startups in China — AI2 Robotics has achieved a valuation of 20 billion yuan ($2.93 billion), according to CEO and founder Eric Guo.
This may be a fraction of the figure’s valuation, but Guo claimed that a large, foreign high-end manufacturer chose AI2’s robots over the American startup for factory work. AI2 is also building robots in China’s airports as well as semiconductor and healthcare factories.
“Commercialization and technological capability are not contradictory,” Guo said in Mandarin, translated by CNBC.
He expects this to be an investment thesis in which investors – even from the US – will start investing within a few months.
If that changes, China is in good shape.
Chinese humanoid startups took the top six spots in Omdia’s ranking of global robot shipments in 2025. Fig and Tesla were the only US companies to make the top 10. While a figure robot appeared with US First Lady Melania Trump at a White House event in March, Tesla’s Optimus is still largely in development.
Another reason for the valuation gap is how investors view companies and their ambitions.
American humanoid startups are being priced as comprehensive artificial intelligence platforms, while Chinese startups are viewed more as industrial hardware plays, said Rui Ma, founder of Tech Buzz China, which regularly brings American investors to tour Chinese startups.
“If China dominates manufacturing scale and real-world deployment, U.S. venture capital funds may miss opportunities to some extent,” he said.
playing both sides
Geopolitics has complicated the investment landscape.
There are domestic national security policies as well as US-China tensions Cold cross-border investment. Large US pension funds that once invested heavily in Chinese startups through venture capital funds reduced their exposure In view of greater regulatory scrutiny from both sides.
This has created an opportunity for Middle East funds. They have backed Chinese venture capital and bought locally developed robots as the Gulf country looks to move away from fossil fuels.
“They seem to be able to play both sides more flexibly,” Tech Buzz’s Ma said, adding, “They may end up with the most balanced display of human opportunity.”
Limux Dynamics, whose backers include China-based Future Capital, got its first foreign investor this year in the form of Dubai-based Stone Ventures.
“For example, about 90% of US venture capital flows into software, leaving a significant financing gap in hard tech that sovereign funds are uniquely positioned to fill,” said Winston Ma, assistant professor of law at New York University School of Law.
He said China’s experience in electric car and drone manufacturing is now being translated into humanoid production.
Future Capital, whose initial investment included an EV company Lee Autorecently announced that another of its portfolio companies, sports robot company Pongbot, was raised nearly 200 million yuan In less than six months.
This is a sign of how fast money is coming in, even if at a fraction of US levels.
The differing trajectories also flip the script for investors, according to Cameron Johnson, Shanghai-based senior partner at supply chain consulting firm TidalWave Solutions. He says Americans are coming to Shenzhen to buy parts for humanoid robots – and integrate them with American software.
need to know
China’s economy grew 5% in the first quarter
While GDP in the first quarter grew by 5% better than a year ago Retail sales decelerated from a 1.7% year-on-year increase in March. Export growth slowed to only 2.5% as the Iran war affected global demand.
Chinese robotaxi companies move ahead in UAE despite Iran war
Ride-hailing company Didi last week became the latest Chinese robotaxi business to announce expansion plans in the Middle East. The news came as part of a business forum organized by the UAE with China as part of a state visit to Beijing.
Hong Kong to announce tax breaks to woo global commodity traders
The region plans to halve the tax rate on profits from trading in some commodities in an effort to attract global players to the finance hub on China’s southern coast. Exact implementation dates are yet to be announced.
is coming
April 21: Premiere of Volkswagen Group four new car models in Beijing
April 24 – May 3: Beijing Auto Show
April 15 – May 5: Export-focused Canton Fair (Spring Session) in Guangzhou
