"The first stock of all-category robots in light industry is coming."
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Author | Huang Yu
Against the backdrop of the surging wave of robotics, the capital market is about to welcome another robotics company going public.
Nearly three months after submitting its listing application, Zhejiang Yifei Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Yifei Technology") has finally overcome the "high wall" of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange listing hearing.
On April 20, Yifei Technology officially disclosed its post-hearing information set, marking that the "first stock of all-category robots for light industry" is only one step away from ringing the bell.
At the intersection of a capital cooldown and hardcore technology, Yifei Technology's successful breakthrough not only injects a strong boost for its own development, but also throws a stone into the robot track—currently undergoing a valuation reset—to test the market temperature.
The "Double-Sided" Yifei in Investors' Eyes
In China's highly competitive robotics market, the 14-year-old Yifei Technology has chosen a path of differentiated competition.
For a long time, heavy industry—especially complete car manufacturing and large-scale equipment assembly—has typically been the high ground fiercely contested by long-established robot giants. Yifei Technology, however, has set its sights on applications in light industry.
According to reports, Yifei Technology focuses on the design, R&D, manufacturing, and commercialization of industrial robots, providing integrated robotic solutions and deeply cultivating light industry application scenarios.
Currently, Yifei Technology has developed a product portfolio for Chinese light industry applications, including parallel robots (Bat series), AGV/AMR mobile robots (Camel series), SCARA robots (Python series), wafer-handling robots (Lobster series), and six-axis industrial robots (Mantis series), along with proprietary core technologies—control and vision systems (Gorilla and Kingkong series).
From the technical perspective, Yifei Technology's robotic architecture is built around the four core functions of skilled workers—"brain," "eyes," "hands," and "feet"—to enable intelligent decision-making, environmental awareness, precise control, and autonomous mobility.
It is worth noting that amid the trend of humanoid robots, Yifei Technology will launch its first wheel-leg humanoid robot "Hogene" in November 2025. This product features a bionic dual-arm structure and lifting column design, equipped with the independently developed YiBrain multimodal large model.
Over the past three years, Yifei Technology's revenue has also grown rapidly. According to the post-hearing information set, from 2023 to 2025, its revenues were RMB 201 million, RMB 268 million, and RMB 387 million, respectively, with a compound annual growth rate of 38.8%.
According to the Frost & Sullivan report, based on 2025 revenues, Yifei Technology ranks fourth among domestic companies specializing in industrial robots and related robotic solutions for light industry applications in China.
From a business layout perspective, while covering 29 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities in China, Yifei Technology's globalization is also advancing, now covering 25 overseas countries and regions across Europe, North America, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. Overseas revenues for 2024 and 2025 were RMB 26 million and RMB 38 million, respectively, accounting for 9.5% and 9.8% of total revenues for those years.
According to the post-hearing information set, with the continued promotion of automation upgrades and smart manufacturing policies, China’s light industry robotics market is on the eve of an explosive growth, expected to exceed RMB 53 billion by 2030.
China's light industry robot solution market is even larger. Data shows that by 2025, the market size will reach RMB 86.1 billion, and by 2030 is expected to hit RMB 212.6 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of 20.2% from 2026 to 2030.
Although growth prospects are considerable, the other side of the coin is the widespread profitability challenge robot companies face. Behind impressive revenue growth, Yifei Technology has yet to fully escape the mire of losses.
Over the past three years, Yifei Technology’s annual losses reached RMB 110 million, RMB 71.495 million, and RMB 150 million, respectively, revealing the financial pains endured during rapid expansion.
The Deep Implications of Going Public Now
Seen from the current point in time, Yifei Technology's decision to forcefully enter the capital market at this moment carries extraordinary strategic significance.
For Yifei Technology itself, this is both a yearning for capital and a survival necessity prompted by the industry cycle.
After an initial phase of staking territory and technological incubation, Yifei Technology is now at a critical stage of capacity expansion and global reach.
Whether it’s investing heavily in upgrading smart production lines to achieve economies of scale, or accelerating strategic expansion into high-margin overseas markets such as Europe, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, both require unconditional support from massive funds.
More importantly, successfully opening a public fundraising channel in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange will greatly ease Yifei Technology’s short-term liquidity pressure caused by a long cash conversion cycle.
This precious net proceeds from the IPO will undoubtedly be key for Yifei Technology to achieve quarterly profit and positive operating cash flow faster.
Moreover, Yifei Technology's successful hearing is also a new test for capital narratives and valuation logic in the entire robotics industry.
Going back a few years, with the explosive rise of AI large models and embodied intelligence concepts, the robotics sector was once a capital frenzy, with highly valued and high-premium projects emerging in abundance.
But as the wave subsides and macroeconomic headwinds blow, the financing environment in the primary market has quietly undergone a drastic change. The underlying logic of investors is being deeply reshaped—from blindly "paying for cool concepts" to strictly "paying for commercialization and self-sustaining ability."
Today's capital market has completely lost patience with startups that only tell stories and paint big pictures through demonstration videos. Instead, institutional investors are increasingly focused on whether companies possess irreplaceable core technology barriers, real order conversion capabilities, and healthy gross margins.
In this aspect, Yifei Technology has submitted a relatively solid answer sheet.
Yet, in the current conservative and picky financing environment, whether Yifei Technology can issue shares at a very high valuation remains a matter of fierce negotiation and uncertainty.
An investor who follows the robotics sector told WallstreetCN that on one hand, the rarity of "all-category robots for light industry," combined with the special tech company policy halo for Hong Kong stocks, can indeed grant it some valuation premium.
But on the other hand, constrained by its lack of final profit, heavy reliance on the top five clients creating concentration risks, and a cash conversion cycle stretching over 200 days testing its operating capital, funds in the secondary market will inevitably approach it more critically.
Rational institutional investors will inevitably factor these risks into pricing models, thereby weakening the willingness of some funds to blindly chase high valuations.
This means that the upcoming public offering is likely to set a more rational price, more anchored to its real business cash flow value.
Of course, this decline and reshaping of valuation is by no means bearish on China’s robotics industry. On the contrary, it marks the industry bidding farewell to wild and frantic growth, officially entering a new cycle of maturity, quality, and sustainable development.
Yifei Technology's journey to go public is like a giant mirror, clearly reflecting the great opportunities and thorns faced by enterprises in the current era of intelligent manufacturing transformation.
For Yifei Technology, listing is only the first whistle of its voyage into global capital. In the future, how to skillfully balance scale expansion with profitability demands, and how to fully turn its deep technological moat into real, continuous profits, will be the real test after it rings the bell.
Risk warning and disclaimerThe market has risks, investment needs caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice, nor does it take into account any specific user’s unique investment objective, financial situation, or needs. Users should consider whether any opinions, perspectives, or conclusions in this article fit their particular situation. If investing accordingly, responsibility lies solely with the user. ```