Meituan leads nearly RMB1bn into cobot maker FAIR Innovation as it bets on humanoid force-control arms
Chinese collaborative-robot maker FAIR Innovation (法奥机器人, FAIRINO) has closed back-to-back Series C+ and Series D rounds totalling nearly RMB 1 billion, led by Meituan Longzhu and Meituan, according to reports on Oct 15 and 16 by 36Kr and IPO Zaozhidao; MEKAWIRE found no release on the company's own site, so the figures are as reported.
The money is for capacity in core components and for scaling its new ART industrial humanoid force-control arms.
The company expects 18,000 robot orders worldwide in 2026, up 68%.
Meituan, the Chinese delivery and local-services group, has now backed a cobot maker twice in one financing cycle. FAIR Innovation, which sells collaborative robot arms under the FAIRINO brand, has completed a Series C+ round led by Meituan Longzhu and a Series D round led by Meituan, raising nearly RMB 1 billion across the two, according to a report by IPO Zaozhidao published on Oct 16 and a 36Kr newsflash on Oct 15. Neither report gives the split between the rounds or a valuation, and MEKAWIRE could not find an announcement on fairino.com, so the amounts are as reported and unconfirmed by the company.
Yongxin Capital, Shishan Fund II and Suzhou Venture Group joined the series, and existing shareholders Guolian Minsheng Capital, Suzhou Industrial Investment and Qingliu Capital added to their stakes, the report said.
Where the money goes: parts first, then humanoid arms
According to the report, the funds will go mainly into fixed investment for core-component capacity and into expansion and R&D for industrial embodied AI, including the ART series of industrial humanoid force-control arms and the AIRLab embodied-AI tool platform. FAIR says it makes its own controllers, encoders, servo drives, harmonic reducers, servo motors and brakes. Its FR series spans 11 models from FR3 to FR35 with payloads of 3 to 35 kg, used for CNC loading, palletising, welding, grinding and assembly.
The company also gave numbers. It expects global orders of 18,000 robots in 2026, up 68% year on year, with overseas sales up 87%. Europe accounts for 46% of overseas sales, Japan 16%, North America 13% and Southeast Asia 11%, served through more than 50 overseas sales outlets and three service centres. It said it has signed agreements for 2,000 humanoid force-control arms with Boyin Hechuang and another 2,000 with sewing-machine maker Jack Technology, and lists customers including Panasonic, Denso and HD KSOE. FAIR also cites third-party data ranking it first among Chinese cobot brands by total and overseas shipments in 2025; MEKAWIRE has not seen that data.
MEKAWIRE analysis: the cobot is becoming the humanoid's arm
FAIR's pitch to Meituan is not a better cobot; it is that the same in-house joints and reducers that built a volume cobot business can be resold as the arms of industrial humanoids.
The numbers in MEKAWIRE's records show why investors want that story. Dobot, the Hong Kong-listed rival, grew 2025 revenue 31.7% to RMB 492.2m, but its embodied-AI robots contributed only RMB 20.0m. Doosan Robotics, Korea's largest listed cobot maker, saw 2025 revenue fall 29.6% to KRW 32.98bn as cobot arm sales roughly halved. Teradyne Robotics, owner of Universal Robots, reported $100m of second-quarter revenue. Cobots alone are a crowded, price-cut market; humanoid arms with force control are the step that lifts value per unit.
- FAIR Innovation
- CN
- Series C+ and D, nearly RMB1bn (reported)
- 2026-10-16
- 18,000 units ordered expected in 2026
- Rokae
- CN
- HKEX IPO, HK$1,006.5m incl. over-allotment
- 2026-07-09
- n/a
- Dobot
- CN
- HKEX placings
- 2025-11-06
- 2025 revenue RMB492.2m
- Doosan Robotics
- KR
- National projects KRW98.9bn (R&D budget)
- 2026-10-06
- 2025 revenue KRW32.98bn
- Universal Robots (Teradyne Robotics)
- DK/US
- Part of Teradyne
- 2026-07-28
- Q2 2026 robotics revenue $100m
Disclosed figures from company releases, exchange filings and, for FAIR, outlet reports (unconfirmed). Teradyne Robotics revenue includes MiR. Not like-for-like: revenue, units and capital raised are different measures.
As of Oct 16, 2026
FAIR's 18,000-unit forecast implies about 10,700 units in 2025 (18,000 divided by 1.68), which would put it in volume terms among the largest cobot makers anywhere. The 4,000 arms under the two agreements equal 22% of the 2026 target, so those deals, if they ship, matter. The counter-argument is concentration of European revenue: Universal Robots' parent has taken Elite Robots and JAKA to court in Germany this year, and a Chinese cobot maker earning 46% of overseas sales in Europe carries that legal exposure.
What to watch
A company release or filing confirming the amount and valuation; whether the ART arms appear on a named humanoid platform; and whether FAIR, after Dobot's 2024 and Rokae's July 2026 Hong Kong listings, files for an IPO of its own.
- Meituan Longzhu (C+) and Meituan (D)
- Reported by 36Kr and IPO Zaozhidao; no company release found
- FAIR Innovation (法奥机器人, FAIRINO), Chinese cobot maker
- Series C+ and Series D, nearly RMB 1bn combined (reported, split and valuation not disclosed)
- Europe 46%, Japan 16%, North America 13%, Southeast Asia 11%
- Core-component capacity; ART humanoid force-control arms; AIRLab platform
- Yongxin Capital, Shishan Fund II, Suzhou Venture Group; existing: Guolian Minsheng Capital, Suzhou Industrial Investment, Qingliu Capital
- 18,000 units ordered, +68%; overseas +87%