Galbot raises RMB 2.5B, a record single round for Chinese embodied AI, at a >$3B valuation
On 2026-03-02 Beijing-based Galbot (银河通用, "Galaxy General") closed a RMB 2.5 billion (~$350-370M) round led by state-backed investors, including the National AI Industry Investment Fund, Sinopec, CITIC and Bank of China, at a valuation above $3B, a record single round for China's embodied-AI sector. Galbot runs its wheeled G1 robots on the AstraBrain end-to-end VLA stack in retail, pharmacies and factories (e.g. CATL), and showed them in Europe at IFA 2026.
Key facts
- Round: RMB 2.5B (2026-03-02); investors incl. National AI Industry Investment Fund, Sinopec, CITIC Investment Holdings, Bank of China assets, SAIC finance arm, E-Town, Kunpeng, Wuxi VC and others
- Valuation: >$3B (>RMB 20B), described as the highest-valued unlisted embodied-AI company in China; Hong Kong IPO reportedly explored (press)
- Models: AstraBrain (end-to-end 'brain-cerebellum-neural control' VLA), plus GraspVLA, TrackVLA and GroceryVLA task models; AstraSynth synthetic-data infrastructure
- Deployments (company/press): CATL battery factory since Mar 2026 (reported RMB 236M contract), 1,000-unit deal with a precision manufacturer, 170+ retail units, a robot-assisted pharmacy in Beijing (~5,000 SKUs)
- Galbot G1: wheeled dual-arm humanoid, 47 DoF, reported price ~RMB 630,000; shown at IFA Berlin 2026-09-04; featured at the 2026 CCTV Spring Festival Gala
What happened
Galbot, founded in May 2023, became China's most valuable private embodied-AI startup, backed heavily by state funds. Instead of legged humanoids it deploys wheeled, dexterous robots in commercial settings such as convenience stores, pharmacies and battery factories, running its own VLA models trained largely on synthetic data.
Why it matters
It shows China's state-directed capital pouring into embodied AI and a deployment-first strategy, while US policy (the FCC's July 2026 Covered List addition for foreign mobile robots, per Tech Times) moves to keep such robots out of the US market.
Changelog
- 2026-09-29: created (deployment numbers are company-stated or from press; USD conversion varies by source)
Sources (4)
- pressGeekPark: Galbot raises RMB 2.5B, record single round
- pressCaixin: Galbot raises another RMB 2.5B
- pressCNR Tech: 银河通用再融资25亿元
- pressTech Times: Galbot G1 at IFA 2026
id: 2026-03-02-galbot-raises-2-5b-yuan · updated 2026-09-29 · open in the interactive timeline