Kepler Robotics

Shanghai Kepler Robotics (Kepler Exploration Robot) was founded in 2023 in Pudong by Yang Hua, who earlier founded appliance maker Chunmi, and Hu Debo, a former Huawei and ZTE executive who is CEO. Its distinguishing engineering choice is planetary roller screw linear actuators rather than rotary joints.

The first Forerunner K1 appeared in November 2023. The fifth-generation Forerunner K2, nicknamed Bumblebee, was unveiled in October 2024 and shown publicly at ICRA in June 2025: 175 cm, 75 kg, 52 degrees of freedom, 15 kg per arm, a claimed eight hours on a one-hour charge, and a base price of USD 30,000. Kepler says the robot began trials at the SAIC-GM plant in Shanghai in April 2025 and describes it as in limited-series production.

The finances tell a harder story. Disclosures around a May 2026 deal show 2025 revenue of CNY 4.34 million against a net loss of CNY 66.94 million, and a first quarter of 2026 with CNY 2.64 million revenue and a CNY 17.09 million loss, with pending orders above CNY 47 million. Hangzhou Kelin, a Shanghai-listed grid-equipment company (688611), agreed to raise its stake to 51 percent for up to CNY 300 million, valuing Kepler at about CNY 722 million (USD 106 million).