The archive · Hardware & Devices · Product decision · 2023–2025
Galbot raised $300M, $3B valuation, largest embodied AI round
Beijing Galbot, founded May 2023, raised ~$800M in 18 months at $3B valuation, betting wheeled humanoids could do real work first.
Galbot (银河通用 / 北京银河通用机器人有限公司)
What the business is
Galbot makes general-purpose embodied intelligence robots: it self-develops a 'brain' (a spatial intelligence large model that can understand 3D scenes and decompose long-horizon tasks) and a 'cerebellum' (an operation skill model trained on billions of simulated synthetic data), installed in the wheeled dual-arm humanoid Galbot G1, sold to customers in industrial manufacturing, instant retail warehouses, smart cities, and healthcare and wellness.
Starting capital：One month after establishment, it received a seed round from Matrix Partners China (经纬创投) and BlueRun Ventures (蓝驰创投); in June 2024, an angel round of RMB 700 million (a record for that year), and in November, a strategic round of RMB 500 million; in June 2025, CATL (宁德时代) led an RMB 1.1 billion round; in December 2025, a single round of over $300 million, cumulative about $800 million, valuation $3 billion
How it started
Established in May 2023 in Beijing. Co-founders are Wang He (王鹤; PhD from Stanford University; assistant professor at Peking University Center for Frontier Computing (北大前沿计算研究中心); director of the Zhiyuan Embodied Intelligence Research Center (智源具身智能研究中心)) and Yao Tengzhou (姚腾洲; Beihang University Robotics Institute (北航机器人研究所)). One month after establishment, it secured a seed round from Matrix Partners China (经纬) and BlueRun Ventures (蓝驰). In June 2024, it released its first embodied large model robot, Galbot G1.
What happened
In June 2024, the angel round of RMB 700 million set a record for that year; in November, it raised a RMB 500 million strategic round. G1 was first sold into education and scientific research, then expanded into industrial manufacturing, instant retail warehouses, smart cities, and healthcare and wellness. In June 2025, CATL (宁德时代) and its subsidiary Puquan Capital (溥泉资本) led an RMB 1.1 billion round. In December 2025, a single round of over $300 million was led by China Mobile Chain Leader Fund (中国移动链长基金), with participation from CICC Capital (中金资本), Chinese Academy of Sciences Fund (中科院基金), Suzhou Venture Capital Group (苏创投), CCTV Convergent Media Fund (央视融媒体基金), Tianqi Co., Ltd. (天奇股份), and institutions from Singapore and the Middle East, bringing cumulative funding to about $800 million and valuation to $3 billion. It has cooperated with CATL, Bosch (博世), Toyota (丰田), Hyundai (现代), BAIC (北汽), SAIC (上汽), Zeekr (极氪), Great Wall (长城), and others, with cumulative orders of thousands of units (OFweek reported orders exceeding RMB 700 million and high growth in 2025 revenue).
How it ended up
It is still expanding rapidly: the December 2025 round is the largest single-round financing in the embodied intelligence field, making the company the highest-valued embodied intelligence startup in China (about $3 billion); according to OFweek, it has completed joint-stock reform and plans an IPO in 2026. Commercialization remains early stage—G1's main market is still education and scientific research, while industrial and retail deployments are being scaled.
Background
Beijing Galaxy General Robot Co., Ltd. (北京银河通用机器人有限公司) was established in May 2023. Co-founder Wang He (王鹤) has a PhD from Stanford University and is an assistant professor at the Peking University Center for Frontier Computing (北大前沿计算研究中心); another co-founder, Yao Tengzhou (姚腾洲), graduated from the Beihang University Robotics Institute (北航机器人研究所). The company makes general-purpose embodied intelligence robots, self-developing a spatial intelligence large model as the 'brain' and an operation skill model as the 'cerebellum', installed in the wheeled dual-arm humanoid Galbot G1.
After G1 debuted in June 2024, the company first sold into education and scientific research scenarios while advancing commercialization into industrial manufacturing, instant retail warehouses, smart cities, and healthcare and wellness. It has cooperated with customers including CATL (宁德时代), Bosch (博世), Toyota (丰田), Hyundai (现代), BAIC (北汽), SAIC (上汽), Zeekr (极氪), and Great Wall (长城), with cumulative orders of thousands of units.
Its financing pace was extremely fast: a seed round one month after establishment; an angel round of RMB 700 million in June 2024 setting a record for that year; a strategic round of RMB 500 million in November; in June 2025, CATL led an RMB 1.1 billion round; in December 2025, a single round of over $300 million led by China Mobile Chain Leader Fund brought cumulative funding to about $800 million and valuation to $3 billion, making it the highest-valued embodied intelligence company in China and setting a single-round financing record for embodied intelligence.
As of December 2025, the company is still expanding rapidly; according to OFweek, it has completed joint-stock reform and plans an IPO in 2026. However, G1's main market remains education and scientific research, and scaled deployment in industrial and retail scenarios is still in progress; the commercialization outcome has not yet settled.
What has to be true
- By grounding 'generality' in generalization skills trained on synthetic data, robots can take on real warehouse and retail tasks without waiting for bipedal walking to mature.
- The wheeled-plus-lift form factor directly corresponds to the currently most valuable scenarios—shelves and production lines—rather than chasing bipedal showmanship in demo videos.
- The dual-track strategy of first selling into education and scientific research, with industrial and retail following, gives the company both cash-flow scenarios and room for scaling.
- Industrial capital (CATL, China Mobile, Bosch, and others) provides both money and orders, validating the assumption that customers are willing to pay for real work.
What can be applied
Form is a means; revenue-generating work is the entry point. Galbot pushed wheeled humanoids into warehouses, trained with synthetic data, and let capital see orders before flashier forms.
Aftermath
By December 2025, Galbot raised over $300M in its largest round, totaling ~$800M at ~$3B valuation, China's top embodied AI startup. It partnered with CATL, Bosch, Toyota, Hyundai, BAIC, SAIC, Zeekr, Great Wall, with thousands of orders. It completed joint-stock reform, plans IPO in 2026. Commercialization is early: G1 mainly in education; industrial, retail, smart city, healthcare are scaling.
Sources
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