(Yicai) Dec. 23 -- Shenzhen Dobot raised HKD681 million (USD87.6 million) in its initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange today, becoming China's first manufacturer of collaborative robots, which are robots with an operable mechanical arm that are designed to work safely with human beings in the same workspace, to go public.

Dobot’s share price [HKG: 2432] closed up 0.7 percent at HKD18.94 (USD2.40), giving the company a market capitalization of HKD1.3 million (USD167,000). It is a modest gain on the offer price of HKD18.80 (USD2.40) per share, although earlier in the day the stock price climbed to HKD21.40.

Dobot, which mainly makes four-axis, six-axis and compound cobots used in the education, light industry, retail, healthcare and chemical sectors, is the second biggest cobot firm in the world with a market share of 13 percent, and the largest in China, according to a report by market research firm China Insights Consultancy.

The Shenzhen-based company has held eight funding rounds since it was founded in 2015, and boasts well-known venture capitalists, including Shenzhen Capital Group, Green Pine Capital Partners, Qianhai Mother Fund Equity Investment Shenzhen and CICC Capital, among its investors. Before it went public, founder Liu Peichao was the biggest shareholder with 26.6 percent equity.

But Dobot has been losing money in recent years and the firm may be unable to turn a profit in the short run due to the high expenditure on research and development as well as business expansion, it said in the IPO prospectus.

The company logged losses of CNY59.9 million (USD8.2 million) in the first half, while revenue climbed 9.6 percent from a year earlier to CNY121 million (USD16.5 million). In 2023 its losses almost doubled from the year before to CNY103 million. Dobot posted revenue of CNY287 million (USD39.3 million) last year, CNY241 million in 2022 and CNY174 million (USD23.8 million) in 2021.

The bulk of Dobot’s earnings comes from overseas markets. Last year, revenue from abroad made up 59.1 percent of total revenue, a jump from 48 percent in 2021. The company’s products and services were available in more than 80 countries and regions as of Dec. 31, 2023, and are mainly concentrated in Europe, the Americas and the Asia Pacific region.

Dobot expects to greatly expand its overseas footprint between 2025 and 2029, it said in the prospectus. The firm will set up three foreign affiliates and build marketing teams abroad, it added.

Dobot is the first Chinese cobot manufacturer to successfully go public. Rival Jaka Robotics recently pulled its IPO on the Shanghai stock exchange’s Nasdaq-style Star Market due to issues with its annual report updates, while Aubo Beijing Robotics Technology is rumored to have started the listing process but has yet to file for an IPO.

Editor: Kim Taylor