Pudu Robotics: $150M at $1.5B Valuation, Embodied AI Wave Continues

China's Pudu Robotics, the Shenzhen-based commercial service robot maker, raised nearly $150 million in a fresh round on Thursday, lifting its post-money valuation above $1.5 billion. Cumulative funding now exceeds $300 million.

Pudu joins three other Chinese robotics unicorns that have raised mega-rounds in the past four weeks alone.

The Details

Pudu was founded in 2016 and builds commercial service robots for indoor delivery, cleaning, disinfection and industrial logistics. Its bestseller, the BellaBot food delivery robot, runs in restaurants in 60 countries. The fast-growing line is commercial cleaning, which now accounts for over 70% of total revenue.

Revenue 2025: +100% year on year (company-reported, not audited)

Cumulative funding to date: $300 million plus

2025 revenue: not disclosed

Investors in this round: undisclosed

Use of proceeds: accelerating embodied AI development, scaling manufacturing, building out global sales offices, and expanding the product line into the next generation of mobile manipulation robots.

The competitive set

Pudu is one of three commercial service robot leaders in China alongside Keenon Robotics and Orionstar. The category was once dominated by hospitality and food service. The growth, and the funding logic now, is industrial cleaning and logistics, where labor shortages and minimum wage pressure have made automation a clear ROI case.

This is the third Chinese robotics mega-round in less than a month. EngineAI raised $200 million in early April, backed by Apple supplier Luxshare. Galaxea AI raised $291 million at a $2.9 billion valuation. Beijing's X Square Robot just closed a Series B with Xiaomi and HongShan. Add Pudu's $150 million and the total is approaching $800 million in fresh capital across four deals in 30 days.

Why the money is moving

The shift in Chinese venture capital is sharp. Yicai Global reported this week that hard-tech is now the only growing segment of Chinese PE while consumer rounds collapse. Robotics is the highest-conviction theme inside hard-tech because it combines three things investors can underwrite: real revenue today (Pudu, Orionstar), a clear roadmap to embodied AI tomorrow (the next-gen humanoid platforms), and a domestic supply chain that does not need US chips to scale.

Pudu's $1.5 billion mark is below where AGIBOT, EngineAI or Unitree are valued in private markets. The growth profile is also different. Pudu is a revenue story scaling into embodied AI. The humanoid-first names are a research story trying to scale into revenue. Investors are now backing both bets.

Sources: DealStreet Asia