Chinese dexterous humanoid startup Galbot has raised RMB 2.5 billion (approximately $345M USD) in a Series B round that signals a major escalation in China's humanoid robotics investment race. The round was co-led by Alibaba and Meituan, with additional participation from Sequoia China, GGV Capital, and the Beijing government's Strategic Emerging Industries Fund.
The raise values Galbot at approximately RMB 11 billion (~$1.5B), making it one of China's most highly valued humanoid companies alongside Unitree Robotics and Agibot.
The Dexterous Manipulation Differentiator
Galbot has distinguished itself from competitors through its focus on full-body dexterous manipulation — the ability to handle irregularly shaped objects, use tools, and interact with human environments with human-like hand and arm coordination. While most humanoid companies have focused on locomotion or gross motor tasks, Galbot's research team has prioritized 32-degree-of-freedom hands with integrated tactile sensing.
The company's G1 Pro platform, unveiled in late 2025, demonstrated the ability to pick, sort, and pack orders at speeds approaching human workers — a critical benchmark for e-commerce logistics deployment.
Alibaba's Strategic Bet
Alibaba's lead investment is not purely financial. The company operates China's largest e-commerce logistics network through Cainiao, with over 1,000 fulfillment centers handling hundreds of millions of packages annually. Integration with Galbot's humanoids would allow Alibaba to address the persistent labor shortage in fulfillment operations, which have historically required large seasonal workforces.
Sources close to the deal indicate that a commercial pilot agreement for 50 Galbot units across three Cainiao facilities is expected to be announced alongside the funding.
Meituan's Last-Mile Play
Meituan's participation reflects a different use case: the food and grocery delivery giant is exploring humanoids for dark store operations — fulfillment centers that serve on-demand delivery — where picking speed and accuracy directly impact delivery time commitments.
Meituan has already experimented with mobile manipulators and automated picking systems. A humanoid that can operate in the same physical environment as humans, without facility redesign, offers a compelling upgrade path.
Scale Ambitions
Galbot plans to use the funding to build a dedicated manufacturing facility in Yizhuang Economic Development Zone outside Beijing, targeting initial production capacity of 3,000 units annually by end of 2026. The company is also expanding its AI training infrastructure, using large-scale teleoperation data from human operators to train dexterous manipulation policies at scale.
The raise positions Galbot as China's answer to Figure AI and Apptronik for logistics-first humanoid deployment — with the critical advantage of deep ties to China's largest potential customers already in place.