(Yicai) July 27 -- AgiBot has begun the process for going public in Hong Kong, according to a source at the Chinese robotics startup who declined to confirm media reports of the initial public offering’s planned size, valuation, or other details.

According to reports, the Shanghai-based firm could seek a listing as early as next month, with cornerstone investors reportedly valuing it at between HKD40 billion and HKD50 billion (USD5.1 billion and USD6.4 billion).

Rumors started circulating that AgiBot was eyeing a Shanghai backdoor listing after the company and its founders acquired a controlling stake in Swancor Advanced Materials early last November. Swancor produces new composite materials, including for wind turbine blades.

Chinese mainland stock markets have strict rules covering reverse-merger listings and generally require stronger revenue and profitability records from companies seeking to go public this way, said Shen Meng, executive director of Xiangsong Capital. Hong Kong, by contrast, is viewed as more flexible and typically offers a quicker route to market, Shen pointed out.

AgiBot’s decision to go public reflects not only its need to fund research, development, and manufacturing expansion, but also a broader trend across the robotics sector. Ten robotics-related businesses completed Hong Kong IPOs during the first half of the year, while another 16 remain in the pipeline, according to Choice data.

The boom in robotics IPOs is being driven both by companies seeking to benefit from supportive government policies and by uncertainty surrounding the long-term development of the humanoid robotics sector, an industry insider said to Yicai.

These robots have already proven effective in public demonstrations and stage performances, but their ability to carry out practical, reliable work in factory environments remains largely unproven, the insider said. Meeting investors’ expectations for sustained high-growth financial performance has therefore become a major challenge for the sector, prompting many companies to pursue IPOs while market conditions remain favorable, they added.

AgiBot has scored rapid revenue growth, taking only three years to raise its annual income from CNY300,000 to over CNY1 billion (USD44,326 to USD147.8 million), making it the fastest Chinese robotics company to top CNY1 billion in revenue, founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Deng Taihua said earlier this year. The figure will jump several times this year, he noted.

AgiBot's robots fall under the wheeled, semi-humanoid, humanoid, and quadruped categories. Its 10,000th embodied intelligence robot rolled off the production line on March 28, followed by the 15,000th just three months later, with production capacity and demand still soaring.

Alongside expanding production, AgiBot is broadening its business ecosystem. Since late last year, it has established subsidiaries dedicated to robot leasing, dexterous robotic hands, embodied-artificial intelligence data services, and quadruped robots, while also investing in firms throughout the robotics supply chain to strengthen its position along the supply chain.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev