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Robotera Secures $140M Series A+ Backed by Automakers Geely and BAIC, Claims $70M in Orders
While many of China's leading humanoid robotics firms are racing toward public listings to secure capital, Beijing-based Robotera (Star Action Era) has opted for a massive injection of private strategic capital.
The company announced it has completed a Series A+ funding round raising nearly RMB 1 billion (approximately $140 million). The round was led by Geely Capital, with participation from BAIC Capital, the Beijing Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund, and the Beijing Robot Industry Development Investment Fund.
The heavy involvement of major automakers like Geely and BAIC—along with previous backing from Alibaba, Haier Capital, and Lenovo—underscores a shift in the sector from pure research and development to industrial application.
A $70 Million Order Book
The most significant metric disclosed alongside the funding is Robotera's commercial traction. As the industry faces skepticism regarding the return on investment for general-purpose humanoids, Robotera claims to have secured over RMB 500 million (~$70 million) in commercial orders for 2025.
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According to the company, these orders span logistics, manufacturing, and commercial services, with clients including Geely, Renault, SF Express, TCL, and Haier. The company’s largest single order, reportedly in the logistics sector, is valued at close to RMB 50 million (~$7 million).
This commercial push aligns with the company's recent technical milestones. As we previously reported, Robotera recently unveiled an "end-to-end" logistics solution using its L7 humanoid to automate item picking, a direct attempt to solve the "flexible picking gap" in warehouses.
The "Automaker" Advantage
The leadership of Geely and BAIC in this round is not coincidental. Automotive manufacturing is widely viewed as the "killer app" for humanoid robots due to its structured environments and labor shortages.
Co-founder Xi Yue stated that the company’s commercialization strategy involves matching deployment scenarios to technological maturity. In manufacturing settings, Robotera’s units are being tasked with component picking, high-precision assembly, and quality inspection.
The company utilizes a modular hardware approach to adapt to these varied needs. By treating robot components like "Lego" blocks, they have released specific modules such as the dexterous "XHand," the Q5 commercial service robot, and the bipedal L7 for industrial use. Notably, the company claims that over 95% of its hardware components—including joints and motors—are self-developed.
Validating the "Brain"
On the software side, Robotera is doubling down on its "ERA-42" architecture, a Vision-Language-Action (VLA) model that moves away from traditional code-based instructions.
The company reports that its overseas business accounts for roughly 50% of its total revenue, driven by a "domestic solutions + overseas developer" strategy. This includes selling hardware platforms to research institutions; Robotera claims that nine of the world's ten largest tech companies are now clients, along with labs like ByteDance and Skild AI.
To further its AI capabilities, Robotera recently collaborated with Stanford University on "Ctrl-World," a generative world model that allows robots to "rehearse" tasks in an imagination space, reportedly improving success rates in unfamiliar environments by nearly 45%.
With this substantial war chest, Robotera is positioning itself as a formidable competitor to IPO-bound rivals like Unitree and AgiBot. While those firms seek public market validation, Robotera appears to be locking in the strategic industrial partnerships necessary to deploy robots onto the factory floor today.
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