Post-90s Entrepreneur from Weifang Builds Humanoid Robots: Secures 1.5 Billion Yuan Funding, Races Toward IPO with Tencent’s Backing

Recently, another humanoid robot company has made headlines with a major funding milestone.

Shenzhen-based Leju Robotics has successfully completed a nearly 1.5 billion yuan Pre-IPO financing round, backed by 15 institutional investors including Shentou Capital, Shenzhen Longhua Capital, and Qianhai Basic Investment. According to data from CVSource, this marks one of the largest single investments in the humanoid robotics sector this year.

Leju Robotics operates across two main product lines: small-sized bipedal robots (30–70 cm) for the education market—already deployed in nearly 5,000 schools and vocational institutions nationwide—and full-sized humanoid robots designed for industrial and research applications, which have been implemented in factories such as BAIC Off-Road Vehicle Manufacturing.

As Leju Robotics pushes toward its IPO, the company’s success has drawn attention to two fast-emerging opportunities in the humanoid robotics field:
First, collaborative innovation across the industrial supply chain, particularly in technologies such as 5G-A remote operation and solid-state batteries that enhance adaptability and endurance.
Second, international expansion into new markets such as Southeast Asia and Europe, where rising labor costs and aging populations are driving strong demand. Southeast Asian manufacturing wages have been increasing by an average of 8% annually, while over 20% of Europe’s population is aged 65 or older. Leju has already begun regional research and plans to launch a simplified, climate-adapted industrial robot by 2026.

A Young Founder with Big Vision

Like Wang Xingxing of Unitree Robotics, Leju’s founder Leng Xiaokun is part of China’s post-90s entrepreneurial generation. Born in 1992 in Weifang, Shandong, Leng showed early promise—winning awards at national youth robotics competitions and later being admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology’s School of Computer Science. During his studies, he secured multiple first prizes in national robotics championships.

In 2016, Leng and nine fellow HIT classmates moved to Shenzhen to start Leju Robotics. At the time, the humanoid robotics industry faced a deep divide between lab innovation and industrial application. Prototype costs exceeded one million yuan, while mass production was nearly impossible. Toy-grade robots, on the other hand, lacked utility and relied heavily on imported components.

Leng proposed a “small first, full-size next” strategy: generate revenue and industrial experience with compact robots, then invest those gains into developing large-scale humanoids. This phased approach became a crucial breakthrough for the sector.

That same year, Leju secured a 10-million-yuan angel investment from Songhe Capital and launched its first mass-produced small bipedal robot, Aelos, within just one month.

In 2017, Tencent injected 50 million yuan in strategic funding, accelerating the company’s educational product line, which rapidly entered thousands of schools.

By 2018, as the team began developing its full-sized humanoid robot Kuafu, they encountered a global supply chain bottleneck. Core components had to be sourced internationally, pushing prototype costs past 3 million yuan. Determined to overcome these challenges, Leju shifted toward in-house development of key parts.

In 2023, the company unveiled the Kuafu robot powered by open-source HarmonyOS, capable of jumping and walking across diverse terrains. By January 2025, Leju had delivered its 100th full-sized humanoid robot to BAIC Off-Road, becoming China’s leading humanoid robot manufacturer by volume. Two months later, in collaboration with China Mobile and Huawei, it introduced the world’s first 5G-A humanoid robot—marking a leap from research to commercialization.

A Market on the Verge of Explosion

According to GGII data, China’s humanoid robot sales surpassed 4,000 units in the first half of 2025 and are projected to reach 7,300 units for the full year. Yet the industry continues to face major challenges: high component costs, limited environmental adaptability, and underdeveloped mass production.

Most companies focus on either educational mini-robots or industrial full-sized machines—but Leju stands out for scaling both simultaneously. In the first half of 2025, the top three humanoid robot companies (CR3) accounted for 79.63% of market share: Unitree (51.72%), UBTECH (16.86%), and Zhiyuan Innovation (11.06%). With global demand expected to reach just 12,400 units in 2025 (Frost & Sullivan), supply still falls far short of need.

Leju differentiates itself through its full value-chain integration and dual-market strategy. The company controls key components by investing in suppliers such as Quanzhibo (joint modules) and Liju Power (motors), while collaborating with Dongfang Precision to build mass production lines—addressing the industry’s biggest scaling bottleneck. Its educational robots ensure steady revenue, while industrial models position Leju to dominate the next growth wave.

Technology Convergence and Industrial Breakthroughs

The humanoid robotics field is now entering a stage of multi-technology convergence. In motion control, hybrid systems combining Model-Based and Reinforcement Learning (RL) algorithms are becoming standard. This fusion—known as the “small-brain” architecture—allows robots to rapidly adapt to new and complex environments.

Leju’s Kuafu robot, which uses this approach, has achieved a terrain adaptation error rate as low as 3.2%. Meanwhile, the company’s 5G-A humanoid model enables remote control of vehicle chassis welding in BAIC factories, expanding the operational frontier of robotics.

On the power front, conventional lithium batteries provide less than four hours of runtime. Solid-state batteries and wireless charging are emerging as key solutions. GGII forecasts that by 2026, over 30% of mid- to high-end robots will adopt solid-state batteries, extending endurance to 8–10 hours and reducing charging times to under an hour. Leju has partnered with CATL to integrate this next-generation power system into its upcoming Kuafu models.

The Road Ahead: Three Key Opportunities

With technology accelerating, the humanoid robotics sector is poised for growth across three major fronts.

First, vertical market penetration: According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, China has over 40 million elderly individuals with limited mobility and a shortfall of five million caregivers. The elderly care robot market is expected to exceed 20 billion yuan by 2028. Logistics giants like JD.com and SF Express are already piloting autonomous loading and unloading robots.

Second, global expansion: Rising labor costs in Southeast Asia and aging demographics in Europe are driving surging demand. Leju plans to launch a simplified industrial robot optimized for hot and humid conditions by 2026.

Third, supply chain synergy: Domestic production of core components is accelerating. GGII predicts that by 2027, the cost of high-precision domestic joints will drop by 40%, lowering overall machine prices and enabling small and mid-sized manufacturers to enter the market—creating a cycle of “technological breakthroughs, cost reduction, and demand explosion.”

With its clear strategy, technical depth, and forward-looking vision, Leju Robotics is positioning itself not just as a leading humanoid robotics company in China—but as a global contender shaping the next era of intelligent manufacturing.