Robot Era
Tsinghua spinout making the STAR1 humanoid and XHAND dexterous hands
Scaleup · Shipping · Humanoid startup · Beijing, China · Founded 2023 · robotera.com
Profile
Robot Era is a Tsinghua University-incubated Beijing company building the STAR1 humanoid, the Q5 wheeled robot and the XHAND dexterous hand. It raised three large rounds in 2026, including more than $200M in April, and passed a RMB 10B valuation.
Notes Reported The 2026 total is a sum of reported rounds.
Also listed as a component supplier.
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People
- Chen JianyuChief Executive Officer
As of . X handles are shown only when we could confirm they belong to the person.
Flagship robots
- STAR1 Humanoid
Full-size humanoid - L7 Humanoid
Humanoid - Q5 Wheeled humanoid
- XHAND Dexterous hand
Funding and valuation
Latest round
$140M
Strategic round · Jul 15, 2026
RMB 1B; USD approximate
Original amount: CNY 1,000,000,000. Dollar figures converted from other currencies are approximate.
Total raised
about $700M Unverified
As of Jul 15, 2026
Nearly RMB 5B raised in 2026 across three rounds (RMB 1B Mar, >$200M Apr, RMB 1B Jul); USD approximate
Valuation
$1.4B
valuation (more than RMB 10B) · Jul 15, 2026
Trademarks
No US filings since 2025 (last checked ). It may file under a Chinese legal name we don’t match yet.
Source: USPTO Trademark Search, matched on the company’s legal names. Rechecked on the 1st and 15th of each month. A filing shows intent to use a name in the US, not a launched product.
Competitors
Companies with overlapping products. Direct = same customers and same job; Adjacent = overlapping technology or market, different focus.
Unitree Robotics
Direct competitorBoth sell humanoids and hands to Chinese buyers: Unitree Robotics sells low-cost humanoids and quadrupeds in volume, while Robot Era makes the STAR1 humanoid and XHAND dexterous hands.
Sharpa
Direct competitorBoth sell dexterous hands and robots to Chinese buyers: Sharpa makes the SharpaWave tactile dexterous hand and robots that run a Dairy Queen store, while Robot Era makes the STAR1 humanoid and XHAND dexterous hands.
mimic
Direct competitorBoth sell dexterous robot hands as products: mimic develops dexterous robot hands and the AI to run them, while Robot Era makes the STAR1 humanoid and XHAND dexterous hands.
Show 2 more
Booster Robotics
Adjacent competitorBoth sell humanoids to researchers and developers: Booster Robotics makes compact T1 and K1 humanoids for research, education and robot soccer, while Robot Era makes the STAR1 humanoid and XHAND dexterous hands.
Sanctuary AI
Adjacent competitorBoth make dexterous hands: Sanctuary AI built the Phoenix humanoid with hydraulic hands and now also licenses its physical-AI software, while Robot Era makes the STAR1 humanoid and XHAND dexterous hands.
Recent news
- — Another RMB 1B round; valuation above RMB 10B 36Kr
- — Robot Era raises more than $200M Caixin Global
Sources
- Robot Era raises more than $200 million (Caixin Global) (Apr 27, 2026)
- Star Era secures another RMB 1 billion, valuation exceeds RMB 10 billion (36Kr) (Jul 15, 2026)
- Robot Era CEO Chen Jianyu (Economic Observer via Tencent News) (Feb 13, 2026)
- Robot Era's Chen Jianyu on general-purpose embodied robots (Sina Finance) (Aug 21, 2026)
Confidence: medium.