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ByNN Desk
Linkerbot Eyes $6B Valuation, Double Its Latest $3B Mark
The two-year-old Beijing unicorn, Linkerbot, backed by Ant Group and Sequoia spin-off HongShan, controls more than 80% of the global market for robotic hands.
Backed by Ant Group and HongShan, Linkerbot plans to double monthly output to 10,000 robotic hands as Chinese factories increasingly skip full humanoids in favor of modular dexterous components.
Linkerbot, the Beijing-based startup behind some of the world’s most dexterous robotic hands, could be heading for a $6 billion valuation in its next funding round, double the $3 billion mark it hit just last week, according to a Reuters report.
The two-year-old unicorn has not disclosed when the round will launch, or whether the reported $6 billion target will come through a private investment round or an initial public offering.
Linkerbot wrapped what it called a “Series B+” round last week, valuing it at $3 billion. Early backers of the company include Alibaba’s Ant Group and HongShan Group, the China-focused firm spun out of Sequoia. The latest round drew participation from the state-backed Zhongguancun Science Park Fund, Bank of China Asset Management and Fosun Capital.
The company holds more than 80% of the global market for high-degree-of-freedom (DoF) robotic hands, the dexterous end-effectors that allow humanoid and industrial robots to manipulate objects with near-human precision. CEO Alex Zhou told Reuters that Linkerbot plans to scale production “soon” to 10,000 units a month, up from roughly 5,000 today.
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Linkerbot’s hands can already turn screws at speed, grasp soft and deformable objects, thread a needle and handle high-precision manufacturing tasks. Its base O6 lightweight model weighs just 370 grams but can carry a 50 kg load, a strength-to-weight ratio Zhou said is a critical advantage in industrial applications where miniaturization matters.
The company makes key components, joint modules, motors and reducers, in-house, and uses specialized self-lubricating, corrosion-resistant polymers. It supplies several of China’s leading humanoid robot makers, along with foreign industrial customers that have not been disclosed due to NDAs. Its hands are also used by research institutes and global universities.
Linkerbot now has more than 400 employees and five factories across Beijing and Shenzhen. It is also building intelligent production lines where robotic hands assemble other robotic hands.
The bigger picture is one of cost arbitrage. Industrial humanoid robots from leading Chinese players like Unitree, AgiBot and UBTech sell for $100,000 to $150,000 per unit, a price point analysts say has slowed factory adoption. Zhou argued that for most factory work, full humanoids are overkill: “Chinese factory owners are extremely pragmatic. They’ve realized that for most factory work, two arms and a pair of dexterous hands are enough.” Many of Linkerbot’s customers, he said, simply mount its hands onto existing robotic arms, getting most of the value of a humanoid at a fraction of the cost.
If Linkerbot lands the $6 billion mark, it will signal that investors are increasingly betting not on full humanoid robots, but on the modular components, particularly the hands, that make those robots actually useful.
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