Embodied intelligence funding cools: Q3 financing 33.335 billion yuan, investors turn to real orders

After entering autumn, the financing heat in the embodied intelligence industry has also "cooled down" somewhat.

Some industry insiders have reported that some listed companies and related parties are no longer looking at the robotics sector; others from investment institutions have mentioned that many RMB funds are now choosing to wait and see, not daring to place bets easily.

The shift in the industry boom may be corroborated to some extent by the financing data. According to an incomplete tally by Yicai reporters, in the third quarter of this year there were at least 185 financing events in the embodied intelligence field, with financing amounts reaching 33.335 billion yuan. IT Juzi data shows that in the first half of this year, total financing in the domestic embodied intelligence track reached 93.5 billion yuan. By that calculation, the single-quarter financing level in the first half was 46.75 billion yuan.

However, industry insider Zhang Ye (pseudonym) said that there is a certain lag in companies' release of financing information, which often comes later than the time the financing was finalized. This means that data more accurately reflecting the current market reaction will require further waiting. "The embodied intelligence track was overheated before, and progress in technology and commercialization has clearly lagged behind valuation levels." He believes the industry is currently in a stage of value regression, and the bubble that accumulated earlier will be cleared out.

Cooling but not extinguished, projects are having a harder time passing review

In the second half of this year, the embodied intelligence industry has reached an important watershed.

Since its listing in August, Unitree Robotics' stock price surged and then quickly fell back, and its performance drew market attention. After that, the industry saw reports of a narrowing IPO window and inflated robot sales revenue. These developments are also believed to have an impact on the primary market.

Heat at this year's World Robot Conference

Based on information from the IT Juzi investment event database, the disclosed financing amounts in the embodied intelligence industry from July to September this year were 8.654 billion yuan, 17.541 billion yuan, and 7.15 billion yuan, respectively. In terms of company financing scale, most were still at the tens-of-millions or hundreds-of-millions yuan level, but financings of 1 billion yuan and above are still occurring.

Specifically, the 1-billion-yuan-and-above financings in July came from Xingdong Jiyuan, Zhuji Dongli, Yimu Technology, and Weilai Buyuan Robotics; in August there were Paxini, Yuanli Wuxian, Zhongke Diwuji, XPeng Robotics, Sharpa, and others; by September there were Digua Robotics, Sudo Technology, and others. In particular, XPeng Robotics' first financing round amounted to 900 million US dollars, and Sharpa's cumulative financing exceeded 4.5 billion yuan.

Reporters noted that these star startups have also obtained large financings in the past few months. For example, Xingdong Jiyuan underwent two financing rounds in the first half of this year, both at the 1-billion-yuan-and-above level; Zhuji Dongli secured 200 million US dollars in financing in February this year, and so on.

Miao Tianyi, executive partner of Puzhuo Capital, believes that "this round of cooling does not mean the market is over; capital is moving from broad, scattergun investment toward concentrated bets on top hardcore teams." He specifically mentioned that industry players and leading large-model companies are going against the trend to select targets for strategic positioning.

A founder of an embodied intelligence company also said that after two years of rapid development, the embodied track is shifting from broad exploration to implementation and application. Investment funds are not decreasing; rather, they are moving from "casting a wide net" to "precision investment."

Wang Han, a partner at Yaolin Venture Capital, which focuses on the technology track, has personally experienced this change.

"In the first half of the year, we looked at embodied intelligence projects. When discussing valuation, entrepreneurs would directly benchmark themselves against the top tier. At the time, we were also struggling and worried about missing the trend." Wang Han said that after entering the second half of the year, they were no longer so "hyped up," and it has now become somewhat harder for such projects to pass internal evaluation. He disclosed that the number of embodied projects they are currently reviewing has already decreased.

Leading VC institutions have also adjusted their participating projects. According to the reporter's earlier incomplete tally, in the first half of this year Sequoia China frequently "made moves" in this track, participating in at least 20 financing events and investing in 14 companies, with the invested companies covering areas including embodied "brains" and components. Hillhouse Venture Capital was similarly active, participating in at least 18 financing events and investing in 14 companies. By the third quarter, Sequoia China participated in 8 financing events and Hillhouse Venture Capital in 4.

And a few months ago, an investment institution insider already fed back to reporters: "Valuations in the embodied track are high, we don't dare to invest, and there are no important projects left to invest in. Some institutions may be looking at embodied peripherals or consumer-grade robots."

Shen Meng, executive director of Chanson Capital, said that industry investors can apply embodied intelligence to their own larger industrial landscapes, but professional investment institutions, lacking diversified exit channels for target projects, will be more cautious in their choices.

Value returns to fundamentals, demonstrations give way to real orders

The change in industry financing heat was actually within the expectations of many interviewees.

Previously, some investors said that the valuation levels of some companies deviated from the team's capability background and business progress, and trend-following investment exacerbated this situation.

In Miao Tianyi's view, the second half of this year is a transition period in which industry heat falls from its peak and the bubble begins to be squeezed out. "The financing channels for small and medium-sized projects lacking sustained cash-generating ability are narrowing, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to survive independently. The stage of relying purely on financing to burn money has passed." He judges that investment and M&A may become a major mainline trend in the industry.

Zhang Ye observed that investment in this track is currently returning to the essence of value. Institutions no longer focus only on demos and PPT presentations, but consider more whether robots or related products can achieve large-scale implementation in the future.

"Without breakthroughs in commercial application scenarios, the valuation foundation of companies will be relatively fragile. Once the financing environment tightens, it will be detrimental to the survival of companies with weak competitiveness," Shen Meng believes.

Wang Han also added that the team now tends to assess certainty of progress when screening projects. "We will look at whether there are real orders, and how long the funds on the books can support the 'burn.'"

This year is also widely regarded as the inaugural year of mass production for humanoid robots. Public information shows that many companies have recently disclosed their latest commercialization progress, with deployment scenarios still concentrated in industrial, commercial retail, cultural tourism and logistics scenarios.

For example, AgiBot has teamed up with Chimelong to create a large-scale embodied intelligence theme park, with more than 300 humanoid robots and quadruped robot dogs on duty, and another 100 Lingxi X2 units have entered 100 Aishida stores nationwide. Zhiyuan also announced in August that it has reached cooperation with Sanyuan Foods and Zhongyi Embodied Intelligence to promote robots stationed in stores and entering factories.

Multiple industry insiders interviewed previously mentioned that, as technical routes have not yet converged and matured, there is still a relatively long distance before embodied intelligence scenario implementation forms a commercial closed loop.

The "Embodied Intelligence Development Report (2026)" jointly released by the Artificial Intelligence Institute of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology shows that embodied intelligence has a long engineering chain from complete machine shipment to actual implementation. Business models are accelerating differentiation along each link, among which the data link closes the loop first; models indirectly monetize through complete machine premiums, subscription services and ecosystem binding; body sales and leasing run in parallel; and scenario solutions are in the early stage of implementation. Most links remain in an exploratory stage of "growth established, profitability not yet established."

An industry insider said that once a company runs through the business model in implementation, this may mean that the industry's elimination round is about to arrive. Zhang Ye mentioned that the bubble accumulated in the industry will not disappear so quickly, and the emergence of new technologies may open up new space again.