Global Collaborative Robot Leader Huayan Robotics (1021.HK) Launches IPO, Commercial Scale and Globalization Drive Value Leap

Since the Hong Kong stock market opened on January 2, the overall trend of the robotics concept sector has been volatile. This reflects a convergence of market risk appetite, with capital allocation logic shifting from early-stage pursuit of “technological breakthroughs” to a rational focus on the “performance realization” ability of robotics companies, accelerating the industry into a key cycle of large-scale application.

On the news front, the recent establishment of the main policy tone of “building a new form of intelligent economy,” along with the speeding up of commercialization by some listed companies and the continued IPO boom in Hong Kong, has created multiple positive signals, injecting strong momentum into trading activity in the Hong Kong robotics sector.

Against this backdrop, the global leader in collaborative robots, Huayan Robotics (Stock code: 1021.HK), officially launched its IPO process on March 20. The offering price is HKD 17, with plans to list on March 30.

1. Top Capital Collective Bets, Globalization Accelerates

As capital pricing gradually returns to fundamental logic, Huayan Robotics is becoming one of the few representative companies in the hard technology field that combines scale growth with performance realization. With self-developed full-stack technology, a comprehensive product matrix for all scenarios, and a global profit model, the company continues to attract strong interest from the capital markets.

Since its founding in 2017, Huayan Robotics has undergone multiple rounds of financing, with investors including Guoke Investment, Yuecai Venture Capital, Yuecai Fund, New Investment Jingshi, YouShan Capital, China Merchants Capital, CNPC Assets, Kunlun Trust, Founder Securities, Tuo Kong Donghai, Boru Capital, Shenzhen SME Venture Capital, Shenzhen Talent Fund, and Sihai New Materials Fund, among others.

Fundamentally, Huayan Robotics mainly engages in R&D, manufacturing, and sales of collaborative robots and core motion components for industrial applications. In 2024, the company achieved revenue of RMB 310 million, a significant year-over-year increase of over 77%; net profit was RMB 17.87 million, with continuous improvement in profitability.

According to Frost & Sullivan data, based on 2024 revenue, Huayan ranks among the top five global collaborative robot companies and is the fastest-growing among the top five worldwide.

Regionally, overseas business expansion has become the core engine driving performance growth. In 2024, overseas revenue reached RMB 156 million, making it China’s largest exporter of collaborative robots; during the same period, the proportion of overseas revenue increased by 23.7 percentage points to 50.2%, indicating that the global business has entered the fast lane.

This not only confirms international markets’ high recognition of Huayan’s product performance and large-scale delivery capabilities but also has cultivated a broad and sticky customer ecosystem. The prospectus shows that the total number of customers increased to 525 in 2024, a rise of over 70% compared to 2022; meanwhile, the net revenue retention rate of major customers rose to 169.6%, laying a solid foundation for deeper market penetration and expansion into new markets.

2. Product Strength × Technology Strength Drive Long-term Growth

From an industry perspective, compared to traditional industrial robots, collaborative robots are accelerating market expansion due to their flexible deployment, low modification costs, and short ROI cycles. According to Frost & Sullivan, the global collaborative robot market is expected to reach RMB 35 billion by 2029, with a CAGR of 37.4% from 2025 to 2029.

In this context, Huayan Robotics, with its excellent, reliable product matrix and integrated self-developed hardware and software capabilities, has taken an early lead in increasing industry concentration, poised to fully capitalize on market demand and achieve rapid performance growth.

Regarding business structure, collaborative robots are the core revenue pillar, demonstrating a solid commercialization foundation and replication expansion ability. The company continues to expand into key industries such as 3C electronics, automotive manufacturing, healthcare, metal processing, and semiconductors, showing broad adaptability to various industrial needs. At the same time, it has gained recognition and adoption from several leading global equipment manufacturers and industry-leading clients, reflecting its strong competitive advantages in product performance, delivery capacity, and scenario implementation experience.

Meanwhile, the core motion components business is becoming an important growth driver for differentiation. As China’s only major collaborative robot company to export core motion components, Huayan supplies frameless torque motors, servo drives, joint modules, and precision motion platforms to many traditional industrial robot and humanoid robot manufacturers.

As humanoid robot industry accelerates, demand for key modules is expected to continue expanding, providing certainty for future revenue growth. Simultaneously, ongoing iteration of core motion components can enhance the overall performance of Huayan’s own collaborative robots, creating a business synergy of “expanding outward into markets and building internal barriers,” opening long-term growth potential.

Behind the excellent product strength is the continuous reinforcement of underlying technological barriers. Huayan Robotics places great emphasis on R&D innovation, building a full-stack integrated R&D system around core motion components, collaborative robot bodies, and HRC control platforms, improving product performance limits and iteration efficiency from the source. To date, the company holds 238 global patents, forming a significant technological moat.

3. Conclusion

Listing in Hong Kong is just a milestone; the company’s long-term value realization still depends on whether it can further expand its global market penetration, deepen AI + robotics integration, and maintain a stable business cycle driven by “R&D innovation + product iteration + customer growth.”

Based on the information released in the prospectus, Huayan Robotics is steadily progressing along this path. After entering the Hong Kong capital market, leveraging both capital and industry empowerment, the company is expected to strengthen its product and technological capabilities and achieve breakthroughs in globalization, opening a new chapter of value growth.