Soaring demand from AI data centers has benefited suppliers of optical connections across the globe. Among them is RoboTechnik Intelligent Technology, which supplies assembly and testing equipment for optical systems to companies such as U.S. semiconductor giant Broadcom. While its Shenzhen-listed shares have surged 340% the past year, the company filed for a Hong Kong dual listing on Wednesday.

RoboTechnik did not disclose details of its planned dual listing in the filing. The Suzhou-based company joins a growing list of mainland Chinese companies tapping capital in Hong Kong, drawn by deeper liquidity, broader investor base and a more transparent market pricing mechanism.

RoboTechnik is founded by Dai Jun, who serves as the company’s chairman and CEO. The 52-year-old owns a roughly 17% stake. Forbes estimates Dai is worth $2.4 billion based on Friday’s closing price of 589.98 yuan.

A trained engineer, Dai started RoboTechnik in 2011 to develop manufacturing equipment for photovoltaic cells, which convert sunlight into electricity on solar panels. He took the company public on the Shenzhen stock exchange’s tech-focused ChiNext board in a 431 million yuan ($63.6 million) IPO in 2019.

Amid the 5G boom in 2020, RoboTechnik acquired a minority interest in Germany’s FiconTEC, which makes equipment to assemble and test optical devices. After gradually raising its stake, it acquired FiconTEC for about 1.9 billion yuan in 2025.

Dai’s early bet on optical technology hit the jackpot last year as AI demand grew exponentially. With the limitations of copper wire-based data transmission, tech giants such as Google, Meta and Nvidia are pivoting to light-based transmission that is faster, has greater bandwidth and is more secure. That shift has made FiconTEC’s specialized equipment critical for reliable connectivity in AI data centers.

RoboTechnik says it’s the world’s largest equipment maker for silicon photonics with a market share of 25.5% in 2024, citing China Insights Consultancy. Other than Broadcom, its customers include Cisco and Nvidia.

In the first quarter of 2026, RoboTechnik posted a 69% jump year-on-year in revenue to 163.7 million yuan, thanks to “substantial growth” in its optical assembly and testing equipment business. Its net loss, however, widened to 38.8 million yuan from 26.2 million the same period in 2025, due to increased expenses, such as for marketing and R&D.

While a comprehensive breakdown of revenue wasn’t available for the first quarter, RoboTechnik last year made 46% of its 949 million yuan revenue from optical testing and assembly equipment. Sales from this segment jumped nine-fold between 2025 and 2024. The equipment is used in cutting-edge technologies such as co-packaged optics (CPO) and optical circuit switches (OCS), which allow data to move faster while using significantly less power.

RoboTechnik’s pivot to optics has also helped offset some of the loss from China’s solar industry, which is facing headwinds due to overcapacity and intense competition. Sales from solar cell manufacturing equipment more than halved in the 12 months ended December 2025. Its revenue contribution dropped from 92.5% in 2024 to roughly 46% last year.

Prior to founding RoboTechnik, Dai was a general manager at Chinese electronic components maker Yuanjiesheng. His previous stints also include German chemical maker Henkel and U.S. semiconductor equipment manufacturer Universal Instruments. Dai graduated from the Harbin University of Science and Technology with a bachelor’s degree in material science and engineering. He also earned a M.B.A. from Fudan University and a Ph.D. in business administration from City University of Hong Kong.

Dai is the latest Chinese billionaire to mint a fortune from the AI optics boom. Others include Li Xiaoming, who turned his landscape design company Hui Lyu Ecological Technology Groups into an optical components maker, and Zhang Xingang, the founder of photonic chip developer Yuanjie Semiconductor Technology.

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