On June 15, Seer Robotics opened its share offering at HKD 101.6 (USD 13) per share, with a board lot of 50 shares and a market capitalization of HKD 11.2 billion (USD 1.4 billion).

Seer Robotics first filed its prospectus with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in May 2025. After the filing lapsed six months later, it refiled in November and passed the listing hearing this June. The company is listing in Hong Kong under Chapter 18C as a specialist technology company and is expected to make its trading debut on June 24. CICC is the sole sponsor, while CMB International is the overall coordinator.

The company’s primary barrier is not the robots themselves, but their controllers. According to China Insights Consultancy, Seer Robotics ranked first in China and globally by robot controller shipment volume, with market shares of 45.2% and 24.8%, respectively.

Five points stood out after 36Kr reviewed the company’s prospectus.

1. Seer Robotics looks close to profit, but two details matter

Seer Robotics recorded revenue of RMB 249 million (USD 36.7 million), RMB 339 million (USD 49.9 million), and RMB 442 million (USD 65.1 million) in 2023, 2024, and 2025, respectively, representing a three-year compound annual growth rate of 33.2%. Annual growth exceeded 30% each year.

On losses, adjusted net loss narrowed from RMB 20.9 million (USD 3.1 million) in 2023 to RMB 2.9 million (USD 427,293.8) in 2025, with the adjusted net loss margin falling to just 0.6%. On that basis, the company looks close to profitability.

But there is a first catch. The adjusted figure is a non-IFRS measure that excludes items such as share-based payments. On a reported basis, Seer Robotics recorded losses of RMB 47.7 million (USD 7.0 million) in 2023, RMB 42.3 million (USD 6.2 million) in 2024, and RMB 47.1 million (USD 6.9 million) in 2025. The losses have narrowed from 2023, but the company is still not profitable. Its reported net loss margin in 2025 was 10.7%.

The second catch is in net assets. On the books, Seer Robotics had positive net assets at the end of 2023 and 2024, at RMB 108 million (USD 15.9 million) and RMB 98 million (USD 14.4 million), respectively. But the prospectus shows that if the redemption rights of pre-IPO investors had not been terminated in May 2025 and were instead recorded as financial liabilities, its net assets in those two years would have been negative RMB 272 million (USD 40.1 million) and negative RMB 320 million (USD 47.1 million).

In other words, Seer Robotics’ positive net assets were achieved through a pre-listing contractual adjustment. Terminating this type of valuation adjustment mechanism is common before Hong Kong IPOs, but the detail still matters when assessing the company’s balance sheet.

Cash flow is also under pressure. Seer Robotics recorded a net cash outflow from operating activities of RMB 27.8 million (USD 4.1 million) in 2025, following an outflow of RMB 25 million (USD 3.7 million) in 2024. In 2023, it still had an operating cash inflow of RMB 10.3 million (USD 1.5 million). At the same time, trade receivables turnover days lengthened from 61 days to 111 days, meaning cash collection is slowing. For a shipment leader, the company does not yet appear able to generate cash steadily on its own.

2. Controllers lead the market, but robots drive revenue

Seer Robotics’ revenue comes from four segments: robots, controllers, software, and accessories. In 2025, robots contributed 67.9% of revenue, or RMB 299 million (USD 44.1 million), but their gross margin was only 38.4%. The high-margin areas were controllers, which generated RMB 85.2 million (USD 12.6 million) in revenue, or 19.3% of the total, with a gross margin of 79.8%, and software, which accounted for 5.3% of revenue with a gross margin of 89.3%.

In other words, Seer Robotics leads globally in controllers, and its controllers and software have gross margins close to 80–90%. But its revenue base is still supported by complete robots, whose gross margin is below 40%.

A closer calculation shows that in 2025, it sold 7,924 controllers at an average selling price of about RMB 10,700, (USD 1,576.6) and 3,168 robots at an average selling price of about RMB 94,700 (USD 13,953.4). Controllers are the highest-tech and highest-margin link. Complete robots are more like vehicles that carry the controller into customer sites.

Seer Robotics’ strategy is to use controllers to draw customers onto its platform, which is compatible with more than 400 components and over 2,000 robot models, and then use complete robots to drive volume.

The upside is strong customer stickiness. Existing customers rose from 32.3% of the customer base to 44.9%, and 60% of revenue came from repeat customers. The tradeoff is that as complete robot volume rises, gross margin is diluted, creating a structure in which revenue grows faster than profit. In addition, 82.7% of revenue comes from mainland China, meaning geographic diversification remains limited.

3. Seer Robotics raised RMB 283 million (USD 41.7 million) across four rounds

Before listing, Seer Robotics completed four funding rounds: Series A, Series A+, Series B, and Series C. It raised about RMB 283 million in total.

Its fundraising history is a valuation ladder.

In the Series A round in November 2020, Seer Robotics raised RMB 64 million (USD 9.4 million). Hidden Hill Capital, Ecovacs Robotics, and other institutions entered, giving the company a post-money valuation of RMB 300 million (USD 44.2 million) and an adjusted cost per share of about RMB 3.72 (USD 0.5), a 95.79% discount to this IPO’s offer price. Hidden Hill Capital invested RMB 29 million (USD 4.3 million), including a loan of RMB 19.5 million (USD 2.9 million), while Ecovacs invested RMB 10.3 million, including a loan of RMB 4.9 million (USD 721,979.1).

In the Series A+ round in April 2021, IDG invested the full RMB 32 million (USD 4.7 million). The post-money valuation reached RMB 600 million (USD 88.4 million), with an adjusted cost per share of RMB 7.18 (USD 1.1), a 91.88% discount to the IPO offer price. The valuation increase was mainly driven by the launch of lifting robots, the SRC-2000 robot controller, and autonomous forklifts.

In the Series B round in January 2022, Seer Robotics raised RMB 116 million (USD 17.1 million), adding SAIF Partners and Haolan Capital as investors. The post-money valuation reached RMB 2.4 billion (USD 353.6 million), with an adjusted cost per share of RMB 25.64 (USD 3.8), a 71.01% discount. SAIF invested RMB 80.0 million (USD 11.8 million), Haolan Capital invested RMB 30 million (USD 4.4 million), and IDG made a follow-on investment of RMB 6.7 million (USD 987,195.9).

The valuation increase was mainly driven by three factors: the company formally began large-scale overseas expansion, its software products went online, and significant revenue growth validated its commercialization potential. Its software matrix included the MWMS integrated warehousing and distribution system, RDS, and Meta visualization software series.

In the Series C round in April 2025, Seer Robotics raised RMB 70 million (USD 10.3 million) from SAIF and Hongtai, giving it a post-money valuation of RMB 3.27 billion (USD 481.8 million) and an adjusted cost per share of RMB 32.70 (USD 4.8), a 63.03% discount. SAIF added RMB 20 million (USD 2.9 million), while Hongtai invested RMB 50 million (USD 7.4 million).

The valuation increase was mainly driven by two factors. First, Seer Robotics launched the SRC-3000FS forklift-specific controller, the SRC-2000-F(S) robot controller adapted for forklifts, and the SRC-880 robot controller designed for lifting robots. It also released a new tote-handling robot, cleaning robot, and 3D robot visualization software Meta-Map Pro. Second, its Series C-stage revenue continued to grow rapidly, further highlighting its commercialization value.

Looking only at entry cost, the biggest winners from this IPO are clearly Series A investors. Their cost was RMB 3.72 per share, while the IPO offer price is HKD 101.6 per share, representing a discount of more than 95%. GLP, through Hidden Hill Capital, will hold 12.9% after the offering. Ecovacs Robotics will hold 5.83%. Institutions such as IDG, which bet on the company in 2020, are sitting on paper gains measured in multiples of more than 20.

Founder Zhao Yue will still control about 47.86% of the company after the IPO, down from 52.89% before the offering.

4. A high valuation for a Hong Kong-listed robotics newcomer

Seer Robotics’ offering market capitalization is HKD 11.2 billion, or about RMB 9.7 billion (USD 1.4 billion). Based on 2025 revenue of RMB 442 million, its trailing price-to-sales ratio is about 22 times. Because Seer Robotics is loss-making, a price-to-earnings ratio does not apply. This is a typical case of pricing based on revenue scale and growth.

A horizontal comparison with peers helps. Geek+, the global leader in autonomous mobile robots, trades at about nine times sales. Estun Automation, China’s top industrial robot company, trades at about four to five times sales. Among the three, Seer Robotics is the most expensive by far.

What supports that premium is its gross margin of nearly 48%, the highest among peers, and its leading position in controllers. The risk also lies there: a 22 times price-to-sales ratio depends heavily on whether the company can maintain growth above 30% and preserve high gross margins. If either weakens, the pressure to digest the valuation will be significant.

Its cornerstone lineup includes eight investors subscribing for 43.34% of the offering, subject to a six-month lockup. The investors include Hillhouse Investment and GF Fund Management. That is a mid- to upper-tier lineup, but without an international sovereign fund or top-tier long-only investor, it does not qualify as a top configuration.

In addition, the public offering accounts for only 9.5%, and cornerstone investors have locked up another 4.12%. The actual free float at the beginning of trading will be thin. A thin float is a double-edged sword: it could amplify gains, but it could also magnify volatility.

5. A technical founding team with Zhejiang University roots

Seer Robotics founder, chairman, and CEO Zhao Yue is a classic technical founder. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electronic information engineering and a master’s degree in control science and engineering from Zhejiang University. In 2013 and 2014, he led Zhejiang University teams to win the Robot World Cup as part of RoboCup twice. He led the development of the SRC controller series, personally holds 43 invention patents, and has been named one of Zhejiang University’s most influential alumni. Some reports say he initially enrolled in the eight-year medical program at Zhejiang University’s Chu Kochen Honors College before leaving medicine for intelligent control.

This is also Zhao’s second startup. The core team first founded Seer Robotics in 2015, but due to differences among shareholders, the company was liquidated and deregistered in 2020. The same year, the team started anew with Seer Robotics and took over fixed assets, inventory, and some intangible assets from the earlier company for about RMB 6.6 million (USD 972,461.7).

Seer Robotics’ team is also unmistakably tied to Zhejiang University. Co-founder and head of product R&D Ye Yangsheng holds an undergraduate degree in control and a master’s degree in industrial design from Zhejiang University. Head of product Wang Qun holds both undergraduate and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Zhejiang University. Executive director and vice president Ding Xia, who is Zhao’s spouse, previously served as investment director and accelerator general manager at Ecovacs.

KrASIA features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This article was written by Peng Xiaoqiu for 36Kr.

Note: HKD, RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of HKD 7.84 = USD 1 and RMB 6.79 = USD 1 based on estimates as of June 23, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.