Finance14 August, 20262 min read
Unitree IPO Draws Record Investor Demand Ahead of Shanghai STAR Market Debut
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Unitree prepares Shanghai STAR Market debut with record investor demand IPO price set at 150.80 yuan per share, valuing the company around $9 billion
Unitree IPO Frenzy
Robot maker Unitree is set for a Shanghai IPO debut, with private trading platforms valuing the stock at sharply higher levels and crypto-linked derivatives pointing to even bigger potential jumps. The Economic Times said shares of Unitree were being valued at sharply higher levels on private trading platforms, with platforms including EquityZen, UpMarket and Hiive indicating that the stock could nearly triple. Reuters reported that Unitree’s IPO was more than 8,000 times oversubscribed by retail investors, setting a record for a technology startup listing on Shanghai’s STAR Market.
The Economic Times also said Chinese media reported some successful IPO subscribers were approached by scalpers offering to purchase their shares for 410 yuan, a premium of about 170% over Unitree’s IPO price of 150.8 yuan. Unitree raised about 6.1 billion yuan ($905 million) in its IPO by selling only 10% of its enlarged share capital, a limited float that helped fuel expectations of strong demand once trading begins.
Perps Price Signals
On crypto venues, Hyperliquid traders were pricing Unitree shares far above the IPO offering, with the Economic Times citing Hiive pricing around $62 early on Friday and derivatives implying a larger upside. The Economic Times said a contract tied to the company’s stock and traded through a platform operated by Trade.xyz was priced at around $90 on Hyperliquid early on Friday. In a separate account, CoinDesk-style coverage said Unitree priced its Shanghai STAR Market offering at 150.80 yuan ($22.37) per share, valuing the company at roughly $9 billion.
That same CoinDesk-linked report said pre-IPO perpetual contracts trading through Hyperliquid were between $92 and $94 on Friday, equivalent to a valuation of about $38 billion, according to blockchain analytics firm Allium. The CoinDesk-linked article also described the risk of leveraged positioning, saying the premium creates a potentially volatile convergence when Unitree starts trading on the stock market, with leveraged positions vulnerable to liquidation.
State Support, Stakes
Beyond market pricing, Reuters coverage highlighted that Unitree is profitable and seen to have state support as China seeks to strengthen its position in tech over the United States and pushes development of the sector. Reuters said Unitree’s founder Wang Xingxing had a coveted front-row seat at a summit with tech business leaders hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping early last year, and that the startup also has backing from Tencent, Alibaba and DeepSeek. The Economic Times framed the IPO as a test for investor appetite in China’s next-generation technology listings, noting that expectations around government support for China’s robotics sector were helping drive enthusiasm.
The Economic Times also warned that Unitree’s valuation could expose investors to significant downside if expectations around the humanoid robotics industry prove too optimistic, citing competition and limited mature applications for factory environments. In the CoinDesk-linked report, Allium analysts said Unitree can open at twice its IPO price and still liquidate a third of long exposure, underscoring that even a blockbuster debut could leave leveraged traders with steep losses.