Robot IPOs in 2026: Shanghai and Hong Kong price robot makers on growth, Korea lists profitable software at 2x sales
Robot companies that went public in 2026 were priced in two very different ways, MEKAWIRE's records of nine listings show. Unitree sold shares at 219.23 times earnings in Shanghai and Hong Kong retail books were oversubscribed up to 3,835 times, while Korea's next listing, Intellivix, is a profitable video-analytics firm priced at 1.8 to 2.2 times sales with KRW 2.5bn set aside for a robot.
The cheapest robot listing of 2026 may be the one coming next week. Intellivix, a Seoul video-analytics company with a quadruped patrol robot in its plans, is offering shares at 1.8 to 2.2 times last year's revenue, according to its October 14 prospectus. Two months earlier, Unitree sold shares in Shanghai at 219.23 times 2025 earnings, and in September Hong Kong retail investors bid for robot-component IPOs more than 3,500 times over. The gap says less about the companies than about what each market is willing to buy.
MEKAWIRE tracked nine robot or robot-adjacent listings and listing filings between August and October. This piece sets them side by side, computes what investors paid, and asks what the split means for Korean robot makers that want public money.
Hong Kong and Shanghai sold robots as a growth option
The Chinese deals share one feature: they were priced on future volume, not current profit. Unitree's listing document compared its 219.23 times multiple with an industry average of 38.56 times, so the issue price carried a 5.7 times premium to its own sector (219.23 divided by 38.56). Mech-Mind priced at the top of its range and saw its Hong Kong public tranche covered 3,835.36 times. Camsense, a robot-vacuum sensor supplier, drew 3,546.91 times retail demand. Four Hong Kong robot deals in September raised HK$4,765.6 million in thirty days, by our sum of the four allotment results.
- 2026-08-19
- Unitree
- Shanghai STAR
- RMB 6,099.32m
- 219.23x 2025 earnings (industry 38.56x)
- 2026-09-01
- Mech-Mind
- HKEX Main Board
- HK$2,353.4m
- Top of range; retail 3,835.36x
- 2026-09-09
- Excelland Robotics
- HKEX
- HK$650.2m
- Bottom of range; retail 140.02x, international 0.99x
- 2026-09-29
- Direct Drive Tech
- HKEX
- HK$1,080.0m
- Top five customers over 80% of sales
- 2026-09-30
- Camsense
- HKEX
- HK$682.0m
- Retail 3,546.91x
- 2026-09-30
- Amicro
- HKEX Chapter 18C (post-hearing)
- Not yet priced
- 2025 revenue RMB 406.7m, loss RMB 155.1m
- 2026-10-07
- FireFly Robotics
- Nasdaq direct listing (S-1)
- None (no new shares)
- H1 2026 revenue USD 30.5m
- 2026-10-14
- Intellivix
- KOSDAQ general track
- KRW 19.0bn to 22.5bn
- 1.8x to 2.2x 2025 revenue
- Vote 2026-11-02
- Agility Robotics
- Nasdaq via SPAC
- Merger
- USD 2.5bn pre-money on USD 1.78m 2025 sales
Disclosed figures from listing documents and allotment results as recorded in MEKAWIRE stories; multiples for Intellivix and Agility computed by MEKAWIRE (value divided by 2025 revenue).
As of Oct 17, 2026
The exception is instructive. Excelland Robotics priced at the bottom of its range, and while retail books were 140.02 times covered, the international tranche reached only 0.99 times. Its prospectus showed a 2025 loss of RMB 110.8 million on RMB 317.7 million of revenue. Retail money chased the theme; institutions looked at the losses. That split matters because it is institutions that set prices in Korea's book-building.
Korea is listing the companies that already make money
Intellivix is listing on KOSDAQ's general track, which requires profits, with 2025 revenue of KRW 46.6 billion and a 10.47% operating margin. At KRW 7,600 to 9,000 per share and 11,335,408 shares after the offering, the company would be worth KRW 86.1 billion to 102.0 billion, about 18 to 21 times 2025 operating profit. Its robot budget is KRW 2.5 billion, a fifth of the money it plans to spend on new businesses. The rest of the Korean pipeline in our records looks similar in one way: Tesollo, a robot-hand maker, has hired KB Securities for a technology-special listing according to a Robot Newspaper report the company has not confirmed, and Twinny raised pre-IPO money in September at a reported KRW 204.4 billion valuation ahead of a 2027 KOSDAQ plan.
- Intellivix
- AI video analytics, ARGOS quadruped patrol
- KOSDAQ general (profit)
- Subscription Oct 21 to 22
- KRW 86.1bn to 102.0bn at range
- Twinny
- Logistics AMRs
- KOSDAQ, 2027 plan
- Pre-IPO allotments Aug to Sep
- KRW 204.4bn post-money (reported)
- Tesollo
- Robot hands and grippers
- Technology-special (reported)
- KB Securities lead manager (reported)
- Not disclosed
- Rainbow Robotics
- Mobile humanoid, cobots
- Listed KOSDAQ
- Samsung 35.00%
- Implied KRW 8.6tn to 17.1tn (H1 price range)
Twinny valuation and Tesollo details are press reports not confirmed by the companies. Intellivix value = 11,335,408 post-offering shares x KRW 7,600 to 9,000.
As of Oct 17, 2026
MEKAWIRE analysis
Korea's primary market prices robot exposure as an add-on to cash-generating businesses, while Shanghai, Hong Kong and Nasdaq price robot makers on the volume they promise; the cost of Korea's discipline is that scarce pure plays get bid up after listing instead of at it.
The evidence for the second half of that sentence is Rainbow Robotics. In our October 17 profile, Samsung's 35% stake and an H1 2026 price range of KRW 444,000 to 880,000 implied a market value of KRW 8.6 trillion to 17.1 trillion, 200 to 400 times first-half run-rate sales. Korean investors will pay a robot multiple; they pay it in the secondary market for the few names with a chaebol behind them. Agility Robotics shows the US version of the same appetite: its Nasdaq merger values a company with USD 1.78 million of 2025 sales at USD 2.5 billion before new money, about 1,400 times sales.
The strongest counter-argument is that the comparison is unfair: Intellivix is a software company, not a robot maker, and Korea does have a loss-tolerant technology-special track. Both are true. But that is the point. The Korean robot listings that are ready now are software and component firms that clear profit tests, and the humanoid makers raising the largest private rounds, such as Holiday Robotics with its USD 105 million Series A in July, have no listing date in our records.
What would change our view
Bull case: Intellivix prices at or above the top of its range and trades up, showing that Korean institutions will pay for a physical-AI story attached to profits, which would pull Twinny and Tesollo forward. Bear case: it prices at the bottom, as Excelland did in Hong Kong, and Korean robot start-ups keep relying on state funds and chaebol parents rather than public equity.
Three dated signals will decide it. Intellivix's final offer price before retail subscription on October 21 and its demand ratio on October 22. Agility's shareholder vote on November 2, the first test of a US humanoid listing. And whether Tesollo files for preliminary listing review with the Korea Exchange before year end, which would show whether the technology-special track can still carry a pure robot maker at a robot price.
- Multiples computed by MEKAWIRE from filings; FX conversions avoided
- Shanghai STAR, Aug 19, RMB 6,099.32m raised at 219.23x 2025 earnings vs 38.56x industry
- KOSDAQ general listing, KRW 19.0bn to 22.5bn, 1.8x to 2.2x 2025 revenue, robot budget KRW 2.5bn
- Mech-Mind 3,835.36x, Camsense 3,546.91x, Excelland 140.02x (international 0.99x)
- Nasdaq SPAC at USD 2.5bn pre-money on USD 1.78m 2025 sales; vote Nov 2
- 9 robot or robot-adjacent listings and filings, Aug to Oct 2026 (MEKAWIRE records)
- Implied KRW 8.6tn to 17.1tn, 200x to 400x H1 run-rate sales (MEKAWIRE Oct 17 profile)
- Mech-Mind, Excelland, Direct Drive Tech, Camsense raised HK$4,765.6m combined
Why it matters
Where a robot company lists decides what it can raise and at what price. Shanghai and Hong Kong are rewarding volume stories with multiples that make capital cheap for Chinese robot makers, while Korea's book-building rewards profit. That asymmetry shapes who can afford to build factories in 2027.
Rival analysis
Chinese component suppliers (Direct Drive Tech, Camsense, Amicro) are listing on concentrated customer bases, which gives Korean parts makers such as Tesollo and Wonik a public comparable but also a funded rival. Korean humanoid makers (Holiday Robotics, Rainbow) compete with Unitree and AgiBot for the same component supply while Unitree has RMB 6.1bn of fresh public cash.
Valuation context
Intellivix 1.8x to 2.2x sales and about 18x to 21x operating profit; Unitree 219.23x earnings; Agility about 1,400x 2025 sales; Rainbow 200x to 400x H1 run-rate sales. These are not like-for-like metrics, and we state each with its own denominator rather than force a single multiple.
Supply-chain implications
The Hong Kong component IPOs fund motors, sensors and robot chips that Korean assemblers also buy. Lower cost of capital in China feeds directly into component pricing for 2027 humanoid builds.
Signals to watch
Intellivix final price before Oct 21 and demand ratio Oct 22; Agility SPAC vote Nov 2; Amicro listing date; a Tesollo preliminary review filing with the Korea Exchange before Dec 31.
Analyst view
Thesis: Korea prices robot exposure as an add-on to profits at listing and pays robot multiples only after listing. Confidence: medium, because the sample of Korean robot IPOs in 2026 is small and Intellivix is not a pure robot maker.
Questions you should be asking
For Intellivix: who makes the ARGOS quadruped and on what terms? For Tesollo: will it list before or after its first humanoid customer contract? For Korean regulators: will the technology-special track accept a loss-making humanoid maker in 2027?