China's PE-backed Ubtech Robotics files for HK IPO
Ubtech Robotics, a China-based developer of service and humanoid robots valued at CNY 32bn (USD 4.4bn) in its most recent private funding round, has filed for a Hong Kong IPO.
Qiming Venture Partners, Tencent Holdings, and CDH Investments are the largest external shareholders with 5.82%, 5.44%, and 1.73%, respectively. The company has also received funding from an assortment of domestic funds. Aggregate private fundraising amounts to nearly USD 800m across five equity funding rounds from pre-Series A through Series D.
Some of these rounds included multiple tranches. The Series D, for example, saw CNY 3.5bn raised in seven increments over the course of three years, ending in early 2023.
Qiming was the first institutional investor, providing USD 10m in Series A funding at a valuation of USD 100m in 2015. CDH led the CNY 325m Series B a year later, and then both re-upped in a USD 241m Series C in 2018 at an implied valuation of USD 4bn.
These figures do not correspond to those announced at the time – the Series B was USD 100m and the Series C was USD 820m – but they may represent new equity only. The prospectus details more than USD 500m in share transfers around the time of the Series C. Other participants in the Series C included Telstra Ventures, Green Pine Capital Partners, and CreditEase.
Founded in 2012, Ubtech produces consumer-level and enterprise-level smart robots and devices and it is conducting R&D into humanoid robots.
On the consumer side, the Jimu series is aimed at family education, domestic entertainment, and child development. On the enterprise side, Yanshee and Alpha Mini are used in education – working in conjunction with artificial intelligence-enabled teaching materials – while Cruzr, Walker and the AMR and Elderly Companions series are intended for the likes of logistics, aged care, and security.
The company ranks number three in China’s smart robot solution industry by revenue with a 2.8% market share in 2022, according to Frost & Sullivan. It ranks first for education-focused smart robots. China’s overall smart service robot market is expected to grow from CNY 51.6bn in 2022 to CNY 183.2bn in 2028. Over the same period, the global market will nearly triple in size, reaching USD 62.8bn.
Ubtech generated revenue of CNY 1bn in 2022, up from CNY 817.2m a year earlier. Enterprise-level robots accounted for 86% and education-focused robots for more than 50% of revenue. The company’s net loss widened from CNY 917.5m to CNY 987.4m.
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